Mall Wars
by hitherelovely
Summary: They both have jobs at the local mall. The chances of them falling in love weren't likely. She proudly works at Hot Topic. He's miserabley employed at Abercrombie. But when they meet at a nearby pretzel stand, their worlds collide and so do they.
1. The Pretzel Stand

**Okay, so I came up with this idea while I was trying to sleep. Bleach does not belong to me. No offense to any of the things I insult in here. Please review, I love knowing what people think of my stories, whether it be good or bad. **

**NO OFFENSE TO ABERCROMBIE & FITCH!**

**Enjoy and I hope you like it!**

**Mall Teens:**

**Chapter 1: The Pretzel Stand**

**Midget-Chick:**

I absolutely love my job. Whether I'm behind the counter, wearing neon green leg-warmers or folding _Charlie the Unicorn_ t-shirts onto shelves, I just absoulutely adore working at Hot Topic.

Maybe because most of my friends work here, or cause I can wear as much eyeliner as I want at this store…I don't know, I just can't get enough of this dark, awesome place that I fortunately have a job in. Hot topic is a pretty normal-sized store; we specialize in music, so there's a lot of rock band t-shirts.

I sighed happily, my bangs swaying a little as I knelt down and picked up a dropped shirt. Wiping off a few wrinkles, I folded down the black top. Yep, that's me, _'Rukia Kuchiki, Defender of Poor Abused Shirts,"_. I walked down a couple aisles, checking and making sure everything was in place…which most of everything wasn't but hey, that's our store for you.

A familiar loud crackling, followed by a loud screech suddenly sounded from above my head. I sighed in annoyance. Yes, Renji and his love for the intercom.

"_Ahem…ahem…" _A weird voice filled the store suddenly and I growled in annoyance _"Rukia Kuchiki, may I see you at the front counter, please?" _Did we really have to have name-tags? I was so tempted to just rip mine off so that the customers wouldn't see 'HELLO MY NAME IS RUKIA' plastered on my shirt. He repeated this several times, making me want to slap him.

Walking back up the dimly-litted store, I glared intensely at a giggling brunette and a beaming red-head standing behind the paying counter.

"Renji, you idiot." I snapped, walking up to the desk. Turning around and swinging my legs, I jumped (with some difficulty) up onto the counter. "You know, I was like, two steps away and you STILL had to use the dang _intercom_?" I said, my voice laced with annoyance at the stupid redhead. Beside him, Momo just giggled.

I huffed unhappily, and Renji scoffed, and said, "Hey, it's your break time, sorry if I had to tell you." I glowered at him and replied, "Yeah, I knew that, you idiot."

Okay, so Momo and Renji are like, my best friends. Renji's not very popular and looks just…weird with his freakishly long red-hair that he has tied in a pony-tail. Tattoos embellish his body, and he has some effing jacked-up eyebrows. We've been friends since we were like what-? Three? Four years old?

Momo on the other hand, heck I don't know why she even works here. She's really sweet and pretty. Her heart-shaped face is pale but always seemed to be tinged pink on her cheeks. Her dark hair is pulled back into two pigtails, and she's adorned today in a peach-colored tank top with matching white shorts. But I think she has some kind of hidden rage inside her cause why would a _doll_ like her be working here?

"Hey, Rukia, can you buy me a pretzel?" Momo asked suddenly, and I shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure. I guess I'll just stop by that new place. Hey, text Toshiro and tell him to get his tiny butt down here, that kid takes way too many breaks." I replied, reaching over and grabbing my pink Chappy bag from over the counter. Trudging out of the store, I tried remembering where the pretzel place was, and realized it was on the same floor as us.

Turning left, I started wandering around until my nose hit the creamy smell of fresh pretzels.

**Strawberry Punk:**

_Man, I hate this place…_I thought, frowning at the sight of perfectly folded jeans packed tightly into dark shelves. I really needed another job, like, one without a bunch of girls coming in wearing almost see-through shirts, and one that wasn't so boring. Working at Abercrombie & Fitch isn't all that great. Too bad Karakura's mall didn't have that many choices. I mean, the place is dark, and needs to be fumigated of that darn perfume smell. The main colors are white and blue, nothing else, the shirts are either polos or have flowers on them.

"Ichigo, Ichigo!" My co-worker and friend, Tatsuki suddenly hissed from beside me. We were both folding shorts in the back of the store, and it was pissing me off to no end.

"What?" I gruffly replied, shoving _really _short denim pants into yet another shelf. The shorter girl narrowed her onyx eyes at me and I sighed. I swear, it's like I could almost see the smoke pouring out of her ears.

"You're scaring away customers, idiot!" She snapped, smearing away wrinkles on a polo shirt. "I'll go get Ishida or Chad to help me with this, go…buy a smoothie or something, you look like you want to stab someone!" She exclaimed, placing the collared shirt onto a clothes-hanger.

_That's because I do. _I thought, glaring at her, but I held my tongue, and nodded. I would take a break, I loved breaks. Actually last week, I had persuaded Orihime to let me take her lunchtime, but then Tatsuki found out.

…That did not end pretty.

Tatsuki, my dear, _dear_, (note the sarcasm) friend is pretty much the boss around here, whatever she says, goes. With her short, spiky dark hair and sharp face, she looks every bit as mean as she actually is.

Another miserable soul that works here is Chad. He's like, my best friend. He was actually the one who convinced me to work here, but I don't blame him. He's a head taller than me, with caramel skin and chocolate hair that's always curled over his right eye. He looks like a beast, and cause he's as muscular as an ape, so Tatsuki usually has him doing work behind the counter.

I didn't waste any time scrambling out of the perfume soaked store. It was a huge relief for my nostrils, at least. I glanced around this floor of the mall, seeing nothing really surprising, with all the kids loitering around, the occasional couple making out behind the trashcan.

Yep, this was good ol' Karakura Mall.

Making sure I'd brought my wallet, I walked towards the food court when I suddenly stopped.

_I really don't feel like a smoothie. _I thought, running a hand through my tousled orange (yes, **orange**) hair.

_I think I'm going to buy a pretzel._

**Midget Chick:**

I don't know _why_ the new pretzel place was so popular, but it was. People were pushing and shoving to get infront of the line. I huffed. Darn Momo and her stupid obsession with pretzels.

She'd probably start crying if I came back without one though.

"Excuse me, pardon me! Sorry, trying to get through! Hey, don't you push me! OUCH! That was my foot! MOVE IT, KID!" I could see the light at the end of the tunnel and I gave one final shove-right into some idiotic and unlucky person who decided to walk infront of me.

I'm not an idiot, so of course I knew there was going to be a _very_ painful collision and yes, there was. I had mowed my victim head-first, toppling me forward and my sufferer back. Almost by magic, the crowd scattered, making more than enough room for the both of us.

Oh, so _now_ they disperse.

My face immediately flushed up in embarrassment, and my eyes opened at the same time as my mouth and I began fiercely apologizing to the person I had mistakenly brought down. My eyes were wide in fright as I bit my lip hard and looked at the face of the guy I tackled.

Suggestive coughs were heard around us and if it were even possible, my face blushed even more. I swear, like, red was seeping out of my pores. I immediately sprang up like a missile, almost tripping myself again as I rocketed back up.

Behind us, (I think it was the lady who stomped on my foot) muttered something about "teenagers and their hormones."

I looked down quickly at the guy I'd tackled. There was an irritated look on his face and I quickly realized who it was.

Ichigo Kurosaki.

Ignoring my offered hand to help him up, he quickly stood and brushed imaginary dust off of his pants. Scoffing, he sneered, "Hey, midget, is it normal for you to mow random people over?"

Totally forgetting the fact that I was supposed to be apologizing, I snapped back, "Yeah, actually, idiots like you." My amethyst eyes were burning like liquid fire. I really, _really_ hated this guy.

He moved here two years ago when we were both freshmen. His dad is a really successful surgeon, so the second he stepped into the school, wearing a custom-fitted school uniform and reeking of snob, I knew I hated him. And it didn't help that he was a foot taller than me. With a sharp face and tousled sunshine hair he was the heartthrob for most girls at my school.

Ichi-ass smirked and I glowered at him. I can't believe I was apologizing to this arrogant snob. Then again, I was already really close to the front of the line. _I'll just buy a pretzel and leave, _I thought, exasperated.

_Man, I really hate this guy._

**Strawberry Punk:**

_Messing with this chick has got to be the most fun I've had all day. _I decided. But really-? Did she just have to tackle me down? Actually, I should be _ashamed_ that a little girl managed to do that to me.

Oh well.

Since our little "fight" there haven't been that many people here, actually, most of them left, muttering about "Teens and their hormones."

And I really felt like a pretzel.

"Hey, midget chick." I whispered to the girl infront of me. She glared back at me. "What, orange punk?" She snapped back and I smirked. This was gonna be fun.

"Why are you so short?" I said the first thing that popped into my head. I snickered lightly as I saw a small vein throb on her head.

"Why are you such an ass?" She snarled back and the smirk left my face for a second. _Touché, midget. _I said to myself.

But I really shouldn't be surprised. This **was** Rukia Kuchiki. I've only been here in Karakura for two years, and on my first day here, I already heard people whispering about "The Rukia" I had no idea who the heck she was, but almost every punk on the street was afraid of her.

But when I saw the little doll, sitting in my classroom, known as Rukia Kuchiki, I couldn't help but laugh. She was just a little goth-wannabe, why were so many people afraid of her?

Rukia is like an ice queen. She's stoic in school and is always battling Uryu for second place in Trigonometry. (1st place was already taken by that Hitsugaya kid)

She has short raven hair that reaches a little beyond her shoulders, the tips of her dark hair curls up a little. With heavy eyeliner below her sparkling amethyst eyes, she looks almost emo. She has bangs, but there's one strand that's just draped across her face. A lot of guys ask her out, but as far as I've known, she's rejected every single date. Plus, her brother's supposed to be some kind of hot-shot businessman or something.

But man, you should really see her at school.

"One with salt and another with cinnamon, please." Her voice snapped me out of my thoughts, but that wasn't the thing that caught my attention. I pretty much gawked at her. Her voice was like icing on the cake. Oh, so she was trying to make me look like the bad guy. Here she was, acting all cute…Tchh, loser.

She smirked at me, the same look that I wore.

Quickly paying for the food, she thanked the pretzel guy politely, and dropped some coins in the barely touched tips jar. Telling her to come back anytime, the worker handed her the pretzels and she smiled…Gosh this girl was annoying. Since I was right behind her, it was finally my turn to buy a pretzel.

The register guy was exactly the opposite to me as he was to Rukia.

"Sorry, but we can't serve you." He said monotonously with a sneer on his face.

"W-wait, what?"

"That girl told me that you tackled her down." He replied, now glaring at me.

"You're lucky I didn't report you to the mall cops, kid."

Oh that midget was so gonna get it now.

**So, what do you think? .**

**REVIEW! PLEASE REVIEW! **


	2. Food Fight

**Oh my gosh! :) I didn't think it'd be that much of a hit, thank you guys so much! If you reviewed and I didn't reply to it here, or spelled your name wrong or something, please tell me!**

**I LOVE THE PEOPLE WHO FAVE THIS STORY TOO! THANK YOU!**

_**Sallythedestroyerofworlds23**_**, bahaha, Rukia is a clever little midget!**

_**Hesis Solstis,**_** Awwww thank you! I'm super uber glad you like it!**

_**Falconrukichi, **_**Hehe, who knows what Ichigo, will do? Hahahahaa.**

_**Chinesemidget**_**, Thanks for reviewing! I like the rivalry too!**

_**Sharebearthedeathbear**_**, thanks! Poor Ichigo, he doesn't get his pretzel! :(**

_**RandomChick96**_**, thank you for reviewing! XD**

**Mall Wars:**

**Chapter 2: School **

**Strawberry Punk:**

School is like, my freaking _heaven_. Here, I have no annoying dad to kick me in the face, I can be a total punk, _and _there are no pretzel stealing midgets to bother me…or so I thought. Turns out that Rukia Kuchiki, was in a lot of my classes. I'd completely forgotten that the bad-ass chick was in every class of mine…except for gym and Spanish. I'm sitting here in classroom 139, with Kuchiki prancing at the back of the classroom, whereas I was in the front.

I turned my head around and looked at her with her wacko friends. Renji was talking animatedly and waving his arms around and Rukia rolled her eyes but smiled and smacked him in the arm. An orange eyebrow rose as I saw her smile at the girl beside her. The girl had brown hair, and her chirping excitedly to that Hitsugaya-kid who looked like he wanted to kill somebody. He was like, what-? 13? 14ish? He'd skipped a couple grades when he should still be in middle school.

BRRRRINNNNGGG!

The bell suddenly rang, knocking me out of my thoughts. Shaking my heavy head, I sighed in annoyance. I was lounging in my set, my back hunched and my legs toppling onto the desk and _perfectly _comfortable.

"Ichigo," A voice I recognized as Ishida suddenly whispered to me. Turning my head in annoyance, I growled back, "What?" Our math teacher, Ukitake, was a nice guy, but he was still a teacher and our school has a thing for people talking. He was gonna waltz through that door any second now.

"Did you study for the Trigonometry test?"

Oh _crap_.

All thoughts faded from my head as my face fell in horror and Ishida grinned smugly, a sickeningly evil glint in his eyes.

"I'm guessing no?"

At that second, Ukitake just chose prance in, his long silver hair trailing behind him and he grinned happily. I swear someone up there does not like me.

Everybody either clamped their mouths shut, or whispered in hushed tones to each other. Ukitake grabbed a piece of chalk from the board and in large, bold letters, wrote out:

TEST TODAY! :)

The bastard had even put a little smiley face next to it...Instinctively, my left eye twitched.

My life was over.

"Alright, class! Take out a scrap sheet of paper and I'll hand you the test! No cheating, please!"

Yep, definitely.

PLOP! And it didn't help when a rolled-up paper ball flew out of nowhere and hit me in the head. Snarling underneath my breath, my eyes turned into silts as I scanned the room for the paper thrower. That person either had to be really good or an idiot, to throw one at _me_.

My eyes landed on a smugly grinning Rukia who was looking at me with an annoyingly arrogant look on her face. Huffing, I quickly unraveled the crimpled used-to-be tree.

_Hey strawberry. :)_

_Bet you didn't study…Good luck with failing. Hey maybe if you're lucky, you'll get Orihime as a tutor! Oh, and man, have you seen your face? I hope a pretzel gets shoved down your throat._

_-With "love"  
_

The way she smirked when I looked up, I knew she was the one who wrote it.

I shoved it into my desk, carefully avoiding the gum cloaked areas. _What was with that girl? _I thought, crossing my arms and huffing.

The clock ticked by slowly and during that entire period, I was circling random answers that looked correct, and then, it hit me...The perfect revenge. Smiling evilly, I quickly scribbled down _Ichigo Kurosaki _at the top corner of the page, in a messy scrawl.

_Hehe, good luck with this…Midget._

**Midget-Chick:**

"Hey guys, can you save a spot for me by the booths?" I asked as we walked into the cafeteria. I'd forgotten to buy a lunch and that resorted in eating slop for lunch. And our cafeteria food was really, _really _disgusting. I wanted to slap myself. And I'd packed rice-balls that morning, I sighed.

_Eh...Oh well! I'll just steal some cookies from Toshiro later. Man, that kid makes awesome chocolate chips! _I decided absentmindedly.

Momo turned around, her skirt flowing behind her and a confused expression planted itself on her face. "Eh? Oh Rukia, we already planned on eating on the roof, remember?" She said happily, a smile on her face.

Oh yeah…we'd already decided in English. Oops. My bad.

"Alright, whatever!" I replied as the three of them walked away. "Oh, and hey, Renji! Don't touch the choco-chip cookies!" I called, only to have him gruffly mutter something back.

Spinning around, with my skirt flowing around me, I walked up to the lunch line. A good thing about our school was that there were absolutely no teachers eating with us during lunch. That was heaven. Plus, we had 50 minutes to eat so that was awesome. The only thing that we couldn't do was leave campus and that sucked cause I really wanted a Big Mac' right then.

Another horrid thing is the uniforms. The girls wear a short sleeved polo with a huge blue bow and a super short gray skirt. I wear neon green legwarmers with punk skulls and crossbones, and a purple choker necklace with a ribbon. The guys are luckier. They have on a collared shirt, adorned in a blue tie with simple gray pants.

Quickly ordering my lunch which consisted of slosh, slop, and mystery meat, I grabbed my tray and started walking to the stars to get up onto the roof when…

"Hey, midget!"

I froze. Did he have to come now? Eating the mystery meat was better than talking to him! We were in the hallway which had no windows, and only two doors leading up to the stars and into the cafeteria. Kurosaki was holding onto a plate of slosh too. There was a strange look in his eyes.

I sighed irritably. "What do you want, Kurosaki?"

He grinned, scratching the back of his head. "Oh nothing, just came to say hi."

I narrowed my eyes almost instantly. "What are you-?"

I didn't have time to finish as a huge lump of mashed potatoes hit the side of my face. My jaw down in shock, my eyes were the size of saucers as Kurosaki howled with laughter, the orange head doubled over in laughter.

Oh no he didn't. My face burned bright red and I was so glad our Biology teacher, Mayuri, confiscated his phone a couple days ago. Plus, there was no way he was gonna get away with that. My hand reaching under my slushy broccoli and cheese, I scooped it up, and swung my arm forward. A satisfying SMACK brought a mischievous smile to my face.

Cheese and green mush dripped down the front of his face, dying his eyebrows green. Oh my- He looked so funny! Giggling with laughter, I ran up the stairs with him not that far behind. Ditching my tray, I tried to hit it on his face, but he dodged, missing by an inch.

"Come back here, midget!"

"No! Get away from me, you freak!" I shrieked, sounding like a little girl, almost tripping on a step. At last reaching the door, I shoved it hard.

The fresh air smacked me in the face as I giggled and skipped to where my friends were. But before I could take another step, a hand shot out and grabbed me by the arm.

I looked up with horrified eyes and stared at the evil grinning, sloshy face of Ichigo Kurosaki.

"Bon Appetite, _midget_."

**Rukia: 1**

**Ichigo: 1**

**That's the score, and it's tied! Review and tell me, are you going for Ichigo's army, or Rukia's Mafia? **

**REVIEW! Oh and this will be the last time I'll be updating for a while. You'll either get another update in two weeks, or a month. I'm sorry, but school is super stupid!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	3. Detention

**Gosh, I haven't noticed it before, but my chapters are super short! Like less than a thousand words! So, my goal in this chapter is three thousand, just to make it up to you guys!**

**Alright and here are the results of the last poll!**

**Rukia's Mafia: 5**

**Ichigo's Army: 1**

**WOAH, Ichigo, buddy! You gotta get some points!**

**Alright and here are the replies to messages and reviews:**

_**Youtubesam, **_**Bahaha, yes, young love! I wish I could find a guy like that too!**

_**SupaCrazee, **_**I know right! Rukia is a total weirdo and not afraid to show it off. I was tempted to sneak onto my teacher's laptop and go onto Fanfiction…lolz.**

_**Star133, **_**Oh my gosh, I didn't think I'd have a reader who actually worked at one of the stores! I love A&F clothes too, but I don't work there! You had to get interviewed and then they said they didn't need you anymore? That sucks.**

_**Diamondgoddess, **_**You're the only one who went for Ichigo's army! You're a special person! Thank you for reading my lovely, and lacking proper writing technique story!**

_**Sallythedestroyerofworlds23, **_**GOSH, that's a long username! And Ukitake is such a weirdo for putting that smiley face!**

_**BLEACHISAWESOMEANDIAMAWESOME**_**, WOW. You've read and reviewed for almost every single one of my stories! Thank you so much, and Rukia could kick Ichigo's butt any day! **

_**Falconrukichi**_**, Awwww, you're neutral! Like…Switzerland! Thanks for reading!**

_**Sharebearthedeathbear, **_**Gosh, I feel so sorry for you having a lunatic for a math teacher! :) Here's a smiley face, just for you!**

_**Nomangaoranimeequalsdead, **_**Gosh, what is up with people and super long usernames? It takes forever to type! Oh, and CONGRATULATIONS, you are the first person to review on this chapter, I love you and you should be proud!**

**THANKS TO MY BETA, Inked-x! **

**So, without further ado, please enjoy and REVIEW!**

**!**

**Midget Chick:**

I couldn't believe it. This was not happening. I trudged as slowly as a snail in the empty ghost-town hallways. No one was still at school, and the only sounds I could hear were the occasional vacuum as the staff cleaned up classrooms. I wanted to cry. What was I going to the my brother?

I stopped as I reached a certain classroom. On top of the door read, Class 306.

I grasped the door handle, turned it slowly, and creaked the door open.

Yes, for the first time in my life…I, Rukia Kuchiki was in detention.

Walking in nervously, I scanned the room for someone I knew…There was none. The lights were on and sitting at the front of the room on a stool was Mr. Kyoraku. I raised an eyebrow in confusion…Wasn't Mr. Kenpachi supposed to be in charge today?

"Ah…Miss Rukia!" He cried; a sickeningly happy look on his face. "I'm surprised you're here!"

Mr. Kyoraku was a lot like Ukitake…Fun, happy, childish. But the thing was, Kyoraku really, _really_ liked to embarrass people…Even if he didn't know it.

"Um…Hello, Mr. Kyoraku." I said, squishing an urge to keep from running out of the classroom screaming. "Please, please…Take a seat!" He exclaimed, again with the psycho smile on his face. I swear, if he wasn't my teacher, I would've thought he was a serial killer or something.

I walked slowly through the room to the back. Glancing through the classroom, I wanted to call the army. There were only about 10 seats, and eight of them were filled. Gothic-looking people either grinned at me, or pretended to spit in my face as I walked passed them.

The "delinquents" were very scary-looking. (A/N: I mean no offense to people who are like this.) I gulped unhappily and then realized something. _I_ was a delinquent now…I was one of them.

It took every fiber of my being to not scream.

Our school time ended at 4. Luckily, our school was lenient and detention only lasted an hour. My shift at Hot Topic started at 5:30 and ended when the mall was closing. So, hopefully I'd be able to make it there with plenty of time.

I slugged my navy messenger bag onto the desk and plopped down onto the seat…I'd happily chosen a seat in the back of the room. Just then, I noticed something familiar and my jaw dropped.

Holy flying cows…Orihime Inoue and Ishida Uryu were in detention. The bubbly strawberry blonde was impossible to miss…especially with her "blessings." Now, Ishida…I could recognize my rival anywhere. We'd been competing in every class we had together for first place now. Well, classes that we didn't have Toshiro in anyways. That kid always kicked my butt in everything we had together.

But anyways, you're probably wondering why I, got detention in the first place.

There are cameras in just about every single place in the school and I'd totally forgotten. The teachers, sometimes during lunch in the teacher's lounge, like watching students do stuff. Like, they'd be laughing their heads off if they saw someone pick their nose, or scratch their butts.

And in our case, they saw me and Kurosaki slamming slush into each other's faces.

Speaking of which, the asstard should be in detention right now, but he probably bailed.

Kyoraku then stood up.

"Alright, my little criminals in the making! You can now start your homework or something," He announced, waving his arms about. "You're free to go in about an hour, so don't worry, I don't plan on ruining your day."

Another weird thing about Kyoraku. He is super uber merciful…Usually with Kenpachi, (who is the monster gym teacher) if you giggle or say one little word, he'll make you do 50 pushups.

Who knows, maybe I'd be able to get through detention!

"ICHIGO!" Orihime suddenly squealed, and my head jolted up. There the strawberry was, sauntering through the door like he owned the place, I bent my head down, banging it slowly against the table.

I take back what I said…I'd be lucky to make out of here.

**Strawberry Punk:**

I was a little late…So what? What was Kenpachi gonna do? I'd already beat him in a wrestling match once…but _hell_ no was I gonna do it again.

I walked through the door slowly…This wasn't my first time in detention, I mean, I don't get it every week, but this definetly wasn't gonna be my last time visiting this room. I expected Kenpachi to be there, glowering at me, but I was greeted by Kyoraku.

"Sup' Mr. Kyoraku," I said, giving a small wave to the lazy and a silent prayer to God since there was no Kenpachi here.

He smiled at me…almost too happily.

"Oh, good afternoon, Ichigo!" He proclaimed; a drunken look on his face. "You're late, but I won't hold it against you. There's an available seat next to Miss Rukia, in the back!" He told me, again with a gay look on his bearded face.

Oh great.

Scowling even harder (if that was possible) I trudged passed Ishida who gave me a smug look, and a confused Orihime, probably as to why I ditched her.

Finally sitting in the seat next to Kuchiki, who wasn't looking at me, I said a small, "Hey."

She slugged her book bag onto the desk.

"Yo, earth to midget."

Yanking out a text book, she flipped to a certain page…still ignoring me.

"Miss vertically challenged?"

Her amethyst eyes scanned down a page quickly, and she scribbled everything useful down in pink ink, into a small notebook.

Okay, this was seriously starting to annoy me.

"Rukia?"

She lifted her head up and flashed me a large, fake smile.

"Yes, asstard?" She asked sweetly, batting her lashes at me.

I narrowed my eyes, my usual frown pulled into a bitter line. "Gosh, you're annoying." I snapped back, shooting an evil glance at her.

"And, wow, you're fugly." She shot back, turning towards me, her lips pursed and a hand on her hip.

We didn't care if we talked, Kyoraku fell asleep all the time, even during lectures and most of the time, his assistant, Miss Nanao would slap him with a handy textbook.

A huff escaped from my lips.

Stupid midget.

Looking me in the eye, Rukia asked, a tone of exasperation laced in her voice, "Great. Now would it kill you to shut up and let me concentrate on the freaking book?"

I smirked. "I think a bullet would be less painful." I replied, winking at her.

Groaning, she turned back around and started scribbling again.

!

**Bean-Paste Loving Girl:**

I furrowed my eyebrows, a look of confusion swept across my face. Turning around, I whispered to Ishida, "Um…Ishida? Why is Ichigo sitting next to…Kuchiki?"

He raised a narrow eyebrow. "He doesn't have a choice, Orihime," He said back. "That was the last seat…And it ended up being next to Rukia." When he saw my heated expression, he chuckled lightly. "Don't worry, they're not even friends. The only reason Ichigo and her are here is because they had a food fight in the hallway."

I nodded. _Good thing I got detention too! _I said to myself, happy that I made Yamamoto (our principal) try my eel and chocolate melted with spaghetti on a roll.

I don't even know why he puked! Did his taste buds come out wrong or something? Everybody else said that it was terrific!

Flipping a long strand of my strawberry blonde hair, my lips slid out into a pout. Then, a genius idea filled my mind.

Raising my hand up in the air, I called out, "Mr. Kyoraku?"

The brunette's head lifted up and I smiled. Noticing a curious look from Ishida, I held up my index finger and flashed him a grin.

"Yes, Miss Orihime?" He yawned.

Flashing a large smile I said happily, "Oh, we have an essay due in Spanish, for Miss Nel, and I don't know how to write it, can I get help from somebody in the class?"

He shrugged, scratching his head and replying, "Alright…Whatever. Get all the help you need." Then his head went right back down onto the table, and he was asleep.

Yes! Mission accomplished!

Grabbing my book bag and swinging it over my shoulder, I whispered a quick, "See you later," to Ishida and marched to the back of the room.

I saw Ichigo and grinned cheekily.

"Hello, Ichigo!"

!

**Nerd Who Likes to Sew:**

Wow…Wasn't Orihime such a great friend?

I narrowed my eyes unhappily as I saw her approach Ichigo, and then just talking to him with enthusiasm.

Orihime's crush on Ichigo was not obscured at all. Everybody knew about it…al except for the retarded strawberry.

Great…Now I was alone, and had nobody to talk to…Even though I never talked anyways. A motion caught the corner of my eye. Turning around, I was almost shocked to see this:

Orihime looked like she had a forced smile on her lips and Kuchiki had an eyebrow raised and a smirk planted on her face. Ichigo looked horrified, glancing at Orihime and then Rukia.

_Ah…I get it._ I thought, laughing inside my head. Orihime, who pretty much got everything she wanted from everybody, because of her sweet attitude and looks, had just asked Rukia to give up her seat.

Rukia refused…Maybe throwing in a couple words like, "Skank," or "Slut."

Ichigo who is caught in the middle, had no idea what to do.

_Huh…That's strange. Ichigo usually does or makes people do what Orihime wants._ I noted; a spark of fascination flying into my brain.

_Maybe I should go clear things up._ I thought, a flicker of worry going across my mind. But then again…This was too enjoyable to waste.

!

**Strawberry Punk:**

It all started out so innocently, first with Orihime greeting me and Rukia.

"Good afternoon, Rukia!" She'd said brightly, the usually smile on her lips.

The said girl pursed her lips and glared at Orihime. "Ugh, why are you here?"

Okay so maybe not so innocent…

Orihime kept the smile on her face, though this time it came out a bit forced.

"Um…Rukia," She drawled out. "Can we trade seats? I really need help with my Spanish homework and Ichigo's in my class." She explained, biting her lip and looking ridiculously adorable.

Rukia smiled, somehow managing to look even cuter. Wait…What the heck am I saying? Scratch that out. _Rukia smiled, looking ridiculously **ugly**. _There. That's better.

"Sorry, Orihime, but I'm sure you can wait until you guys get home. I don't want to see be blinded for the rest of my life." Rukia chirped happily.

A flaming blush spread like a wildfire onto my face. _Darn you, midget. _I thought, glaring fiercely at her. Rukia just smirked and winked at me.

Orihime, who unbelievably had straight A's, responded angrily and a bit stupidly, "What's that supposed to mean?" I felt a wave of shock. Orihime never lost control of herself. Never.

I felt somebody staring at me and I looked up.

Ishida, the cocky bastard, was looking at me with a smug grin on his face. I glared angrily at him and he looked like he was trying to stifle his laughter.

I swallowed, finding the courage to say to Rukia who was glaring at Orihime and I swear it looked like there was fire in their eyes.

"Um…Rukia? Maybe you should let Orihime sit here. I mean, she does need help…" I stuttered, almost crying at how unmanly it must've looked. And apparently it was a lot cause I saw in the background, Ishida howling with laughter, clutching his stomach.

Rukia raised an eyebrow at me and then nodded, a sickeningly sweet smile on her lips.

"Of course, Ichigo!" She squealed happily and I groaned. "Anything for you, my dear, sweet-"

"OW!" I suddenly screamed, catching everyone's attention. Even Kyoraku woke up, mumbling incoherent words.

She kicked me in my shins…Hard.

It was then that I remembered that she was in soccer and she'd gained the nickname, "Tripper"

I then realized how she got it.

"Oh don't worry everybody!" Rukia said, grinning. "Ichigo here is just practicing for his scene in the Drama Club! Though, I'm afraid, he's not very good at it!" She freaking _screamed_.

The entire class was so quiet for a split second, you could hear crickets chirping and then…

"BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"OH MY- I KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH ICHIGO! HAHA!"

"I don't know! Maybe he's gay?"

The entire classroom was filled with howls of laughter, people beating on the desks and Ishida at that point had rolled off the chair was choking on the floor, laughing so hard his eyes filled with tears.

My face was red, red, and_ red_.

"I'm not in the Drama Club!" I yelled, but no one heard me in the midst of all the chaos in the room.

I then turned around and glowered at Rukia.

"You. Are. Going. To. Pay." I snarled, and she smirked at me. A real, genuine, Kuchiki smirk.

"Hey, it isn't my fault I think you can do better than that skank." She replied, and then stood up.

"Detention is over. See you at the mall." She snickered.

Walking towards the door, she flashed me a final smug look before disappearing into the hall.

My life was over.

!

**Midget Chick:**

"Alright, here you go!" I said happily to a tween angst-looking girl. Lifting the bag up, I handed the bag to her and she nodded, looking unhappy.

She had spiky blonde hair with black streaks in it. Her eyeliner looked like it was down to her cheeks.

And I thought I looked gothic.

"Have a nice day!" I told her and she shrugged.

She looked and me coldly and replied, "There are no nice days."

I smiled; I was used to these types of customers. I just sighed and said back, "Who knows? Maybe today will be."

She looked at me, her eyes a little wide. Maybe she was shocked at the fact that I didn't run away. Who knows?

But as she left the store, I could've sworn I heard a small, "Thank you," escape her lips.

The corners of my lips lifted…almost to a real authentic smile, but I quickly squashed it.

It was almost closing time and I didn't have anything to do for the rest of the day. Renji had gone home earlier, complaining about a stomach ache, and only Toshiro, Momo and I were left in the store.

"Hey guys," I called out to them. Toshiro was busy folding shirts whereas Momo was hanging necklaces onto the shelves.

"I'm going to play soccer for a bit at the park, anyone care to join me?" I said. Hey, it was a Friday night and I had nothing to do.

Toshiro shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure. There's nothing better to do." I fought the urge to hug him to death. Toshiro was a prodigy, skipping a grade. He tried acting tough, but inside of him, it's like caramel and chocolate.

"I think I can go, too!" Momo piped in blissfully. Again, I don't know why that chick works here.

I grinned. "Alright then. Girls versus boy. Toshiro's driving." Growling, Toshiro tried to object when I said, "Momo doesn't have a car, my motorcycle is at the repair shop, and your BMW is awesome!"

Yes, the rich boy/genius had a _BMW M3_ and just acquired his license 2 weeks ago. Plus, that boy could _drive_. I'm surprised NASCAR hasn't recruited him yet.

Grumbling, he agreed and Momo and I cheered and did a little happy dance.

**35 Minutes Later:**

Toshiro's navy car pulled up smoothly into the park driveway. Twisting the wheel a bit, he backed into a spot, parking perfectly. A reason why I got a motorcycle and took the time to get another license?

So I wouldn't have to hear the white-head laugh at my poor driving.

Unclipping my seatbelt, I reached for the door handle and opened it, the small park greeting my eyes. Everybody else copied me.

"Alright!" Momo shouted enthusiastically, her face beaming, the second she stepped out of the car. Toshiro was looking at her, a small smile on his face.

I raised an eyebrow. Interesting.

Toshiro and Momo both helped me with getting on the soccer team in my freshmen year. Momo was assistant captain of the cheerleaders, mainly because she was a sophomore. And Toshiro was the best player on the guy's soccer team.

Both of them were used to winning.

And both of them had no mercy.

Toshiro went to the trunk and grabbed the ball. We then walked to a nice big field, nicely made with two goals already in place.

Grabbing the soccer ball and throwing it up into the air, Toshiro yelled, "Go!"

!

**So there you have it! Rukia's on soccer! So's Toshiro! And someone else, too.**

**I personally ADORE soccer! I'm trying out for our school's team so wish me luck!**

**So there you have it! Review and tell me:**

**Should Toshiro date:**

**Momo**

**Karin**

**Matsumoto**

**I already think I know who, but your votes might make me change my mind!**


	4. Soccer and Punks in Denial

**Needless to say, I didn't make the soccer team. /Sobs/ So, I'll wait until next year until and stay a nerd. :D But here's your update and most of you guys said you wanted Toshiro and Momo, like one or two Toshiro and Rangiku and a couple Toshiro and Karin. Oh well, wait until you see this chapter.**

**But, -drum roll-**

**MALL WARS HAS 36 FLIPPIN REVIEWS AND THIS IS ONLY CHAPTER 4! If you guys can give me 50 reviews by the next time I update, I'll throw in another chapter. :)**

**Strawberry Punk:**

"Really, Karin?" I raised an eyebrow at my younger sister and she turned, throwing a glare at me.

"Yes, _really_." She snapped and I sighed, crossing my arms.

We were both sitting in the living room, me, super tired and not wanting to move, and Karin, stubborn and teenage-y. This is what we were talking about; Karin's a freshmen at our "lovely" high school and she's trying out for the girl's soccer team. Problem is, the tryouts are the day after tomorrow and she wants to practice…at the park…with me…because her stupid friends don't want to get kicked in the face by her and neither do I.

Being an older brother is just great, isn't it?

I groaned and gave in after a moment.

"Fine, you have two seconds to grab your stuff and get in the car." I told her grumpily and even though she tried to hide her excitement, I didn't miss that spark of enthusiasm flash through her eyes.

Saying a super quick thanks, she quickly ran up to her room and grabbed her soccer bag but then I realized something.

Dad wasn't home, I think he was working extra hours at the clinic, and Yuzu got upset if she was alone.

"Yuzu!" I called the other twins' name. I saw her head poke out of the kitchen door, of course (girl is gonna be a chef one day). "Yes, Ichi-nii?" She replied, a curious glance on her face.

"Drop your apron; we're going to the park."

!

**Midget Chick:**

I huffed at a smirking Toshiro. We were getting killed, seriously. Even the usually happy-go-lucky Momo was having a hard time not glaring at Toshiro. Maybe that was because of the stupid bet we made with the white-haired punk.

_Flashback: About 15 minutes earlier:_

"_Toshiro, we're gonna kill you!"_

_Half-lidded eyes glanced back at me. "Really?"_

"_Yeah!" Momo piped in, throwing a fist in the air._

_He smirked. "How about a bet, then?"_

"_You're on." I immediatly replied._

"_Whoever loses has to pay for everything the winner wants at that ice cream shop."_

"_Whoa, that really expensive place, Urahara's Ice Cream?"_

"_Yep."_

"_Deal."_

Boy was I an idiot. We were getting killed.

5-1.

"Argh! Momo, we're kinda sucking here!" I said to her, sweat starting to gather on my forehead. She looked at me like I was retarded. "I know!" She replied.

Stupid Toshiro and his stupid soccer skills and stupid me agreeing to that stupid deal.

It was all just so _stupid_.

Just then Momo started yelling and waving at something. I turned around to look at her, giving her the crazy eye as I did so. She was glancing at the path...OH! There were people there! Actually, it was that freshman, Yuzu with her sister, Karin.

"Hey, Momo!" The younger twin, Yuzu cried happily, waving an arm at us. Apparently she knew Momo. You see, I knew the Kurosaki twins because when Toshiro wasn't as good at soccer in middle school, he'd always _trip _over the ball and twist his ankle (Momo and I always made fun of him for it). Fortunately, the Kurosaki Clinic is 24/7 (he likes practicing at night which is probably how he beats up his feet).

We paused our game, waiting for them.

But I didn't realize that Ichigo was with them until-

"Yo, midget!"

I turned around, glaring angrily at the orange-haired freak.

I huffed and sneered at him, "Hey, _punk_."

I smirked as a flash of anger crossed has face. He opened his mouth to retort but-"Hey, are you guys playing soccer?" Karin's curious voice suddenly flowed over to me. My eyebrow rose up and Momo replied, "Um, yeah. We're against Toshiro-"

"Wait. This is the Toshiro Hitsugaya?" Karin interrupted her suddenly, pointing to Toshiro. Said boy glowered at the raven haired girl and said, "Who else?" He doesn't like fans, apparently.

Even though she tried to squish it, Karin couldn't stop that look of complete joy cross her face. She suddenly started talking non-stop. "W-will you help me with soccer? I'm trying out for the girls soccer team and Ichi-nii isn't exactly good at it but you are because you're Toshiro Hitsugaya and you're," She took a breath from her rambling. "You're just amazing, will you help me? Please?"

Even though usually Toshiro took in praise like it was nothing, (him being a prodigy and all) responding to adults with a "Whatever," or "It wasn't that hard." But with Karin, a faint hue of pink tinged his cheeks.

"Sure, I guess."

Momo's glare didn't go unnoticed by me.

_Crap. _I thought, mentally wincing. _I have a feeling this is gonna end bad._

"Hey, let's just continue what we were doing before," Momo suddenly said, surprising everyone. Toshiro's eyebrow arched. Karin looked quite furious when she said this.

"Except let's trade Rukia with Karin." She announced.

_Gee, Momo. I know how much I mean to you. _I thought, crossing my arms.

But nonetheless, I mean if I interfered, Momo would freaking burn me, so I curtly replied, "Fine." Karin smiled (which isn't often) and told Momo to "Back up and let me do all the work."

I winced. Momo was a stubborn girl, she wouldn't take crap like that.

As to which Momo _politely_ responded, "YOU back up or I will kick the ball in your face."

But before they could say anymore, Ichigo had already thrown the ball in the air.

And thus, the games begun.

!

I dragged my feet against the ground, my butt in the air due to the swing. A light breeze tossed my raven locks back and I shivered. I pumped my feet back slightly. Yes, I was on a swing set. Don't ask me why.

After 20 minutes of intense playing, the score was now 6-4. Toshiro of course being the 6. Momo had scored twice and Karin shot the ball into the goal once.

Needless to say, the younger Kurosaki was pissed, in the first two minutes of the game, they'd already developed soome kind of rivalry. I really don't think that this is going to end well. Heck, I doubt that stupid retard, Ichigo knows that his little sister has a crush on my best friend. The more child-like Kurosaki twin, Yuzu, despite being a freshman in high school, was climbing up the slide, giggling and squealing as she went down the slide.

They were an interesting family, for sure.

And the stupid, ugly, strawberry head?

Why of course he was sitting next to me, on another swing.

"You know, you must suck at soccer." He suddenly said, I responded by glaring at him.

I snapped back, "What makes you say that?"

He smirked slightly. "Well, considering Momo scored twice already…"

He left little to the imagination.

I hmphed and started to scoot back. Pumping my legs forward, I started to gain momentum and within seconds, I was already a couple feet off the ground.

Ichigo raised a curious eyebrow. "Why are you swinging?" His voice had a -you-are-a-retard hint to it.

"I don't like the heat as much as the cold," I said as I swung past him. "When I was younger, I wouldn't come to the park on sunny days when it was hot. But when you're swinging, the air is crisp and cold." I paused for a moment before adding, "Especially at night."

Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"I didn't ask for your whole life story, you know."

I couldn't help but laugh lightly. Suddenly an idea popped into my head. "Hey, strawberry, watch this."

Before either of us could move, I shoved myself forward, flipped my legs up and flung over the bar, coming back down in a full circle, the swing making a jiggling sound as I was thrown back into it by gravity.

Ichigo just stared at me, his mouth agape and I grinned slightly.

"Holy…flying midgets."

A loud slap resounded in the park followed by a:

"OUCH!"

I grinned and then broke out into laughter.

It was then that I thought, _you know, maybe Ichigo isn't that bad. _But then he said, "Stupid midget." Which was followed by another slap and then I decided, _He's a jerk._

But, maybe a good one.

**Strawberry Punk:**

She wasn't like a girl I'd ever met before. No, not at all. Most girls would giggle as I walked past them, but she would hold her head up in defiance and glare at me.

Most girls would blush when they were talking to me. She called me horrible names that put sailors to shame without blinking.

Most girls, when they went out with me, I wouldn't feel anything for them. Not an ounce of love, I just used them for popularity and a good make-out session. Then why do I smile when I see her? How come I feel sick when she's with that Renji kid?

Who knows?

I sighed, feeling kind of sick.

_You know what? _I finally decided. _I'm probably only like this because I'm freaking single! Huh, I think I'll ask Orihime out next week or something._

And just like that, I tried to push all thoughts of Rukia Kuchiki out of my head. It was especially hard, probably even more so with her sitting in front of me, looking up at the stars.

"What's your mother like?" She suddenly asked her violet orbs still glued to the sky. I blinked, why was she asking this all of a sudden? Twice. "Um, I don't know," I replied, scratching the back of my head, trying to sound nonchalant. "She died when I was young, I don't remember her." I lied. There was a sharp tugging in my heart as I thought of my mother.

Rukia nodded. "My parents died when I was only a couple months old, so Nii-sama took care of me." She replied softly.

I snorted. "Who is he?" She spoke his name like he was some kind of idol.

"Byakuya Kuchiki. He's the president of the Kuchiki Co. Basically, he owns about 1/3 of all the shopping malls here, in Japan." She explained, narrowing her eyes briefly before adding, "Ours, too."

I nodded, but then wondered why she would work here if he did. I opened my mouth to ask but was cut short as Karin scored a goal, and then shot a glare at Momo.

Huh…I wonder why they hated each other so much. Or why Karin was so polite to that Toshiro kid...Probably because he's better than her.

Who knows I mean...PLOP!

A large drop of water splattered on my face and I looked up.

The stars were still out but it was drizzling lightly. What? The soft patter of the rain ceased all conversation between us.

The rain soon picked up a little and within a couple minutes, I was drenched.

But the soccer-lovers didn't stop their onslaught of game. Actually, I think the rain made them even more competitive because the short white-haired kid scored another one.

_I have to get up early tomorrow for work, and if dad's already home, he'll throw a fit if he doesn't see that the twins are home. _I thought and the same time that Rukia said, "Gosh, I have to go home soon. Byakuya'll be furious if I don't." I turned around and it took me a couple moments to reply. as my breath hitched in my throat.

She was soaked. Her white t-shirt clung to her skin and her black shorts were doing the same thing. Surprisingly, she wasn't wearing any eyeliner, not like the usual heavy style, anyways. I think she looks better without it. Her amethyst eyes stand out more. She blinked and looked at me, her long and delicate lashes brushing against her flawless cheek.

_W-woah...She looks almost human. _I thought.

"What're you looking at?" She suddenly snapped and I flickered a couple times.

"Ugh, nothing. Hey, look, I think they're done." I replied, glancing back at the soccer players who were slapping each other's hands (Momo and Karin's a little bit more forceful). Rukia nodded, getting up out of the swing.

"Hey, Ichigo." She said.

I quirked an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"What day is tomorrow?"

"Saturday…Why?" I asked, obviously confused. She smiled, water dripping down her face.

"And isn't this your first year working at Abercrombie & Fitch?"

I shot her a puzzled look. "Yeah…but why?"

She beamed.

"Because Mall Wars is next week."

**Hahahahaa! There it is!**

**Alright, and I know that most of you are wondering what Mall Wars is AND who Toshiro will be with~**

**REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

**AND HERE'S THE POLL QUESTION:**

**Who's your absolute, favorite, no questions asked, BLEACH CHARACTER?**


	5. Sushi and Ice Cream

**I LOVE EACH AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU REVIEWERS!**

**MALL WARS HAS NOW REACHED 50 REVIEWS! WHOOO! OH AND IF YOU READ THE LAST MANGA, I'M GONNA DIE! I'M GONNA DIE! WAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! **

**Do me a favor and go read it!**

**Tell me what you think!**

**Strawberry Punk:**

I tried asking everybody. And I mean _everybody_. Not a single one would tell me.

"Please," I almost begged. "What the hell is this _Mall Wars_, everyone's talking about?"

Tatsuki shot another frosty glare at me. "It's a tradition; we're not supposed to tell the new employees!" She snapped, narrowing her eyes before walking away into the storage closet.

I scowled.

This was the second time that I'd asked Tatsuki. Pleaded with Chad until he walked away. And, Uryu slapped me and called me an idiot.

Hell, even _Orihime_ didn't tell me.

"This is crap." I muttered. I hastily shoved another t-shirt into a shelf.

It was a Saturday night and I was stuck in this stupid place. Mentally cursing out Abercrombie and Fitch, I sighed, reached out, grabbed the t-shirt, folded it neatly, and then proceeded to shove it into the shelf.

My boss is _totally_ jacked up. _I_ had a life, unlike him. Plus, it didn't help that almost all of the other store employees were already home!

And the only ones left here were Tatsuki who was digging in the storage closet somewhere, Ishida who was skimming through all of the clothes and making sure there wasn't a single hole anywhere…and Orihime, who was standing strangely close to me, folding t-shirts.

I was freakishally bored so I decided to talk to her.

"Hey, um, Orihime, when do you think we're going to close down?" I asked her, trying to get some conversation going. She blushed, for some strange reason (is it hot in here?) and shrugged her shoulders, which…jiggled her "assets" a bit.

I mean, I've gotta admit, that girl is _loaded_.

"Um, I don't know, _Ichigo_." She said my name in a slow creepy way that made me want to flinch.

Huh…was she sick or something?

So, I decided to question her.

"Orihime, you're acting kind of weird, are you feeling okay?" I really didn't give a crap, but girls get all sappy when you don't notice stuff like this.

Trust me, _two_ twin teenage girls in one house is a bit too much for an older brother to bear.

I shuddered inwardly just thinking about it.

She smiled, but I didn't know why.

"Um, no, not sick, just _hot_."

She shrugged off her sweater, leaving her in a pink tank top and I nodded…though strangely weirded out. Really weirded out. DId she always act like this?

Maybe she was sick or something and didn't want to admit it.

I shrugged and decided, _girls are such queer creatures._

**Bean Paste-Loving Girl:**

I didn't get it.

At all.

_Why isn't he noticing me? A gay guy would've made out with me by now! _I thought, unusaully exasperated.

I crossed my arms, strangely frustrated, because I usually wasn't like this at all.

I hardly ever get angry, and I'm normally very patient.

But not around him.

Donned in a thigh-length white skirt, it showed off my legs. But it wasn't too short, no; I don't think I would wear something like that. Matched with black flats and a high-cut tank top, I look like an angel.

A _hot_ angel.

Running a hand through my strawberry locks, I shook my head, remembering Tatsuki's words when I told her about my crush.

_Flashback:_

"_Its okay, Orihime. I've actually known for a long time! It's kinda obvious." She said, grinning at the fact that I'd finally told her._

_My eyes grew wide. "Y-you did? Is it that obvious?"_

_My best friend smirked slyly at me. "Only to me, and that's cause I've known you for so long." She replied._

"_Um…So how do I make him, you know, like me?" I asked, twittling my thumbs like it was my first day of school._

_She smiled deviously and rubbed her hands together._

"_Well, you see. Guys like girls that are…"_

_Flashback end:_

And, actually, Tatsuki herself picked out my outfit for today.

I sighed.

Was he never going to notice?

I looked at the orange-haired boy I grew up with out of the corner of my eye.

His scowl was still in place, his eyebrows knitted together. His devestatingly good looks made me want to swoon, and he had such a great personality, especially when he isn't working here.

Again, I sighed.

How could I get him to like me?

**Midget Chick:**

"Finally, we're closing up!" I said happily, beaming at Toshiro. He glared daggers at me and I smiled back at him.

"And, Shiro-chan, you know what that means," Squealed Momo blissfully from behind me.

"YOU'RE PAYING FOR OUR ICE CREAM!" We both screamed at the same time, and somewhere in the storage closet, Renji swore. (He jumped and banged his head against a shelf because we shocked him)

Giggling lightly, I added, "Don't worry, Pineapple, you're coming too!"

I heard a satisfied 'hmph' come from the tattooed boy still digging through the boxes.

Toshiro simply groaned, muttering something about "I'm going to be a hobo because of them."

Momo laughed lightly.

Now, you're probably wondering why Toshiro's paying for the ice cream…Momo and I did crocodile tears, and man, Whitey _cannot_ stand a crying chick.

"Off to Urahara's!" I exclaimed, and just the thought of their ice cream made my stomach growl. The prodigy sighed again and I shot a grin back at him.

"Well, let's go! Renji, hurry up!" I called, giddy with excitement. It's been so long since I've had any ice-cream.

"Wait."

I turned around and glanced at Momo, an eyebrow raised in confusion. _What's so important that I have to wait for my ice-cream? _I thought impatiently.

"Toshiro, I forgot to tell you one thing…" Momo said, a sheepish look on her face.

Turning and facing her, the said boy asked, "What?"

"Um…It's nothing really important but…" She twittled her thumbs, looking adorably innocent.

"Momo, what the _hell_ is it?" He asked back, running a hand through his unruly locks. Wow, he must've been really pissed, he usually doesn't swear around Momo.

"Erm, Rangiku's coming too…?" _Who the hell is Rangiku? _I thought before Toshiro exploded.

"WHAT?"

Momo shuffled her feet and blushed. "I-I'm sorry! A-and…she's bringing some friends."

There was a vein popping out of the white-haired boy's head before he said in a deadly growl, "How many?"

"Umm…"

**Strawberry Punk:**

Finally, the horrendous torture was over.

"Hallelujah," I muttered, glad that we were finally closing up. Behind me, Ishida suddenly said, "Hey, idiot."

I grinded my teeth, deciding to spare him. "What, four eyes?"

I felt a glimmer of satisfaction as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"You can leave now, Tatsuki's already in her car and I'm just gonna lock up."

Sneaky, sneaky Tatsuki…

"Alright, see you later." I nodded at him and high-tailed out of that store.

!

Slamming my car door shut, I shoved the keys into the engine-starter and almost smiled as my car came to life.

I have a red Toyota Camry and it is _beast_.

Just as I was about to shift it to 'reverse' my phone started vibrating in my pocket.

Grumbling, I reached grabbed it out of my jeans.

It was from a friend, heh, I can't even remember her name. She came to the store last week and said freaking _glomped_ me.

Then she stole my phone and added her to my contacts.

Anyways, the text said something about a party and _free food._

I like food that's free. And, my stomach gurgled at that moment to prove my point.

I grinned.

"Well, here we go!"

**Midget Chick:**

I dug ravenously into my sushi, moaning at the pleasure of my stomach being filled.

Oh yeah, Urahara is an ice-cream shop/sushi (weird I know) and I mean, they have _everything_.

Plus, even though it was ten P.M there were about fifty people crammed in here.

Mostly because of Rangiku.

She had invited everyone she knew, and was now drunk and rolling around on a table. I'd met her before she was drunk and I gotta admit, she's pretty cool. And gorgeous, with long wavy hair, and _huge _assets, bigger than that weirdo who works at Abercrombie and Fitch.

But still, she's awesome.

Oh yeah, did I mention that I know the owners of this place?

I'd said hi to Yoruichi and Kisuke earlier, they know me really well because I try to come here as often as I can and Yoruichi apparently used to be my brother's nanny.

Creepy right? And she doesn't even look that old! Actually, she's one of the prettiest women I know, and I think that the two business partners have something going on.

Oh and now the normally peaceful place was now crowded with hormonal teens humping on each other. I luckily found an empty booth and am now chomping on sushi happily.

Renji is drunk on sake.

Toshiro is sitting in a corner sulking somewhere muttering about "I'm gonna be bankrupt." And Momo was there comforting him...Rangiku had told everybody that it was free food and it would've taken an army to stop an angry mob of these guys.

Plus, it didn't help that a couple of his fangirls heard and now were stalking him.

Well, actually, they almost succeeded in glomping him but Momo had stepped in at the last minute.

It was scary.

A bell suddenly rang throughout the store and I looked up, my eyes widening and then narrowing disdainfully as I realized who it was.

Raging ember met frosted violet.

"YOU!" We both screamed, jumping to our feet.

!

**Oh gosh, oh gosh…**

**I feel sick. Oh my gosh.**

**Read Bleach Manga 423 and you might have a mini heart attack like me too.**

**Oh….**

**And the poll question for this chapter is:**

**What's your favorite Bleach song? Like the themes and the endings.**

**Tell me please! **


	6. Toyotas Save People

**Um, hi there. You might remember me as the author of this story but it's been **_**quite**_** a while so…**

**AHHHH FORGIVE ME! IT'S JUST—BLEACH HAS BEEN SO COMPLICATED RECENTLY AND…Never mind, this is an AU story so…**

**And thanks so much for SIXTY REVIEWS! And we're only on chapter six. You guys make Mamma proud. :) **

**Oh, and the poll results were:**

**Happy People**

**Houkiboshi**

**Change**

**And Soundscape.**

**READ ON MY LOVELIES. **

**Strawberry Punk:**

Somebody up there must _really_ not like me. I'm guessing its Grandpa. He never did forgive me for telling Dad about that ace card hidden underneath his sleeve…

I narrowed my eyes at the midget who currently had bits of sushi falling out of her mouth. We'd both screamed at each other, "YOU!" Which earned quite a few looks. Not that the mostly drunk people cared that much anyways.

Her eyes were the size of dinner plates and a smirk tugged at my lips.

Taking long strides towards the midget, I barely noticed the other occupants in the room, even managing to tune out that Renji kid, who was drunk and singing _Till the World Ends _very…badly. Well, to be honest, he sounded like a screeching baboon. Poor Brittany, making a song like that only to have it ruined by a drunken pineapple.

Plopping down on the seat next to Rukia, I flashed an obvious faux smile to her, ignoring the angry huff of breath that escaped her lips.

"I was just sitting here, enjoying my sushi peacefully," Rukia murmured softly before glaring at me with daggers, "Until you came in and ruined everything." She finished with a snarl.

I gave myself a mental pat on the back.

_Good job, Ichigo. You managed to piss off the midget in about two minutes._

New high score? I think so.

This one probably tops my record in Call of Duty.

Wait—never mind, _nothing_ beats Nazi Zombies.

"So, what brings you here, this _fine_ evening?" Rukia bit out scathingly at me. Oh, if poison had a sound, she made it. Her eyes were like liquid amethyst as they burned into mine and it took an effort to not look away.

I winced, clutching my heart like I'd been stabbed. "Oh, your words wound me, my dear midget!" I cried out dramatically. She rolled her eyes and scoffed, crossing her arms.

"I'd like to use more than words to wound you."

"As if you could."

"I didn't seem to have a problem at the pretzel stand."

"Maybe that's because of your weight."

"Are you calling me _fat_, Strawberry?"

"Watch out, midget. You shouldn't eat so much—its gonna fill out you know."

She didn't respond and I grinned in victory until a sharp, excruciatinly, painful sensation blasted me from my shin.

"OUCH!"

Friggin' emo chick with a vicious foot.

Hissing sharply in pain, I glared at her, clutching my abused shin.

The nonchalant look on her face frustrated me almost as much as the sarcasm laced in her voice.

"You okay there, Berry Head?"

Oh, if she wasn't a girl…!

Trying to pull out whatever chivalry that was inside of me, I forced a smile onto my face. The effort it took was immense.

"So…_Rukia_," I grumbled her name, the words sounding foreign to my ears, "What is this 'Mall Wars' everyone is talking about?"

She beamed at the fact that I actually used her name instead of midget or…well…variations of midget.

Making a _tsk, tsk, tsk, _noise, her hand on her hips and shaking her finger haughtily, as if she were scolding a child, she replied, "Nuh uh, Kuro-Berry, can't tell you. Be a good boy and just wait until Friday, 'kay?"

Submerged in anticipation for six days?

Oh kill me now.

A scowl crept its way onto my face and I furrowed my eyebrows, my nose scrunched up slightly in irritation.

Great.

**Midget Chick:**

It had been hours after the party started and as the ice cream shoppe was closing, people flooded out the doors like they were escaping from Pompeii.

"Toshirou, you're kidding me, right?" I whined, letting an uncharacteristic pout climb onto my lips. My friend sighed, his teal eyes gleaming with apology.

This was not fair.

It was currently midnight, my phone was dead, and Momo and Toshirou had AT&T so there was no service _even_ when I told them Verizon was better.

Byakuya is going to have a _cow_.

Toshirou sighed, raking a hand through his snowy locks.

"Sorry, Abarai, Matsumoto, and even Hinamori are drunk. And they're underage. I'm gonna skin Matsumoto alive for bringing alcohol to that party…_And making me pay for it_." He grumbled the last part.

Somehow, Rangiku had managed to sneak sake past the watchful eyes of Yoruichi and Kisuke.

Well, actually, I think Kisuke knew about it (the man somehow manages to know everything) but because he's so mischievous, he decided not to say anything.

And now I was paying the price for it.

Though Toshiro's BMW is _hella_ sexy, it only has four seats. And Toshirou was one of the only people not drunk and so far he's managed to load six people (using the trunk also) into his car to drive them safely home.

So basically, I was without a ride.

Screw that, Byakuya is going to have a cow, a duck, a chicken—the whole _farm's_ gonna be here!

Turquoise eyes glanced at me apologetically. "I'm sorry, Kuchiki. If I'd known—" He began but I cut him off with a small smile, though my insides twisted at the thought of having to walk home alone in the dark.

"Don't worry your little white head off, Toshirou, I can walk home. I'm a big girl." I gave him another reassuring smile and he sighed, the guilt crashing into him like a truck.

Yeah, but most "big girls" can't walk home in freezing autumn weather…Especially when their homes were five miles away.

I knew he was going to beat himself over this but he needed to take the drunkards to their residents.

Saying my goodbyes to some friends and waving at a guilty Toshirou, I wrapped my thin scarf around my neck before heading out of Urahara's Ice Cream Shoppe.

Pushing the door open, as the bell announced my leave, I was immediately attacked by the cold.

The cold wind tugged at my hair like fingers and the crunching leaf underneath my foot made it obviously clear that autumn had arrived and was in full bloom.

I sighed, and I could see the shaky breath escape my lips in a white mist before disappearing into the darkness of the night, gone like the faraway warmth of summer.

I like the cold. I really do, but it was _freezing_ outside. For once, I longed for the warm caress of spring as another forceful blow from the wind had me yanking with effort in a tug-a-war for my scarf.

I continued on my way, trudging down a well used sidewalk, my boots clacking against the ground obnoxiously loud.

I mentally cursed myself at my attire.

A thin blue cardigan with a scarf looped around my neck and a short white skirt that was mid-thigh brushed breezily as I walked.

I didn't even bother with leggings…

I made a mental note to myself to steal-ahem, _borrow_, Byakuya's credit card and shop for some more decent winter clothing.

The moon was high in the sky without any trace of clouds nearby to obscure its light—the milky rays bathing my hair in silver.

Trekking down the sidewalk, I wrapped my arms around myself in an attempt to stay warm. Shivering for about five more minutes, it felt like my fingers were going to fall off. I walked quickly, hoping that the movement would help keep me warm.

"Toshirou, I'm gonna make you buy a minivan…" I growled underneath my breath. "A minivan that can fit many people in it with a very, _very_ warm heater, and blankets and pillows—"

My ranting was cut off as a voice yelled, "Hey, Vertically Challenged!"

I glanced up quickly; my eyebrows were raised at the familiar voice.

Ichigo Kuro-Berry. _What is he doing here…?_

The bright lights from a car flooded my vision and I cringed at the intensity of the light, going blind for a few seconds. He pulled up in a red Toyota Camry and the passenger window rolled down as he said, "Want a ride?"

If he wasn't such a jerk, he would've been my knight in shining armor right then.

I wanted to jump into that car and turn the heater on full blast. But my damn Kuchiki pride wouldn't let me accept help…_especially_ not from him.

"No thanks." I snapped rudely, crossing my arms, almost surprising myself at my coldness. I took a couple steps forward but Ichigo's car followed; the hum of its motor calming.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "C'mon, I don't want to be responsible for a frozen midget. Your brother will kick my ass!"

I shook my head again and Ichigo sighed irritably.

His hand reaching for the gear shift, he yanked it down until it was at PARK.

Swiftly clicking his seatbelt, it wound back up to where it came from and he snapped the door open in flourish.

Taking long strides towards me, he said again but this time with steel in his voice.

"Rukia, get in the car." His tone was dead serious, as if he actually cared about me.

"No."

"You'll freeze."

"Like you care."

That seemed to snap something in him because before I knew it, he knelt down, grabbed my waist and threw me over his shoulder.

I gasped in shock before realizing my situation and kicking him in the gut and beating on his back.

"I-Ichigo! Let me go!" I yelled, trying to squirm out of his vice grip.

To no such luck.

Stupid, tall, berry head.

He didn't reply and his grip on me tightened as we approached his car.

Shoving me roughly in the passenger door, I growled in aggravation and exasperated at how he _manhandled_ me.

The idiot.

Quickly slipping into the driver's seat, Ichigo hooked on his seatbelt and yanked the car into DRIVE.

"What's your address, shortie?"

I glared at him.

"803 Senbon Zakura Drive." I replied curtly, yet couldn't find it within me to muster up the hatred to call him a name.

I mean, how could I, especially to a guy who was driving me home?

Quickly typing the address into the handy GPS he flashed me a smirk and said, "Wow, now I know where the infamous Rukia Kuchiki lives. Don't be surprised if your house is covered in toilet paper tomorrow…" He trailed off, his amber eyes glowing with mischief.

I take that back.

"Shut up, Berry."

"Ha, make me."

"I would if you weren't driving."

"Tcch. Right."

I simply let our conversation end there, too tired to bother with retorting. Ichigo had turned the heat on full blast and I felt myself melt in the warm, cushiony, seat.

Without realizing it, my eyes fluttered close as sleep swam over me.

**So, 2,000 words and its FIVE IN THE MORNING. Yes, you better love me.**

**Again I apologize for not updating in almost a year and if there is still anybody who remembers this story, I hope you review.**

**And the poll question for this chapter will be:**

**Who's your favorite Zanpaktou? In the next chapter, that Zanpaktou will be featured! So please review!**


	7. Of Pink Hair Dye and Victoria's Secret

**13 reviews? Ya'll are amazing!**

**But I would've had this chapter out DAYS ago—if my stupid computer hadn't screwed ****up and**** erased everything…But I guess that's life.**

**So, this chapter is a worse version of the last one and very rushed. Sorry if I made any mistakes.**

**OH and before I forget, would anyone like to Beta this story? I'd really appreciate it and if you'd just drop me a PM that would be great.**

**Midget Chick:**

"What the hell?"

"Shit! It's everywhere!"

"Screw those Abercrombie bastards!"

Those were the screams and hollers that echoed throughout Hot Topic, on Friday 12AM. My eyes were widened in horror as they took in the horror and chaos of our beloved store.

"Rukia! It's hair dye—_pink_ hair dye!" Momo shrieked, running towards me, her arms shaking and her entire body covered with the ugly fuchsia hue. Her hair was matted with the unsightly color and I couldn't help but cringe.

Oh they got us good this time.

Narrowing my eyes in distaste, I cursed Abercrombie underneath my breath.

We had all agreed to stay late on Thursday night to prepare for Mall Wars that officially began on Friday. We had no idea how Abercrombie knew that…Did someone accidently let it slip?

Teaming up with those Justice _punks_, those flowery, lacey, unfashionable losers rigged our sprinkler system to go off at 12 AM, the first _second_ of Friday—but instead of water, they used pink hair dye, the color of weenies and our arch nemesis.

That ugly hue now wreaked havoc on Hot Topic.

Momo and Renji ran around the store, mops and cloths in their grasps while they were scrubbing urgently against counters, shelves, and walls. Momo looked half in shock, her hands mopping the floor frigidly as she looked at her arms—almost like it wasn't pink dye, but blood. Renji, however, was muttering curses at Abercrombie and promising long, merciless deaths to the Justice employees.

I don't blame him. Not a bit.

I _very_ am thankful for my dark hair. Not a trace of the pink showed up. Inwardly smirking at the fact, my heart still felt bad for everybody else. Groaning, I grabbed a cloth and started wiping the counter—my eyes scanned around the store, looking at the damage. Thankfully there wasn't that much. I gave a mental sigh of relief. The sprinklers only went off where the employees hung out—behind the counter, the back room, and the dressing rooms.

There were, however, some casualties.

A couple Twilight t-shirts hadn't escaped the pink rain and now—well, could we sell a shirt with a pink Edward on it? And even Charlie the Unicorn couldn't escape the onslaught of pink.

It was behind the counter, where the cash register was that there was the most immense damage. It looked like a Justice girl went behind there and puked out rainbows and butterflies of pink.

Seriously.

Finished wiping the counter, I looked up; moving on to help Momo at the shelves when something _very_ pink caught my eyes.

Oh Lord have mercy on his poor soul.

Toshirou.

His gorgeous white hair, with its pasty complexion and pallid tresses were no match for that dark coral blush that now covered his head. His hair would've made those twelve year old Beliebers squeal in joy.

His locks _swirled_ above him instead of the usual spikiness—no doubt a side effect of the dye—his locks looked like cotton candy. In his hand, he clutched onto a mirror, one with flowers (probably from Momo) his large teal eyes were widened to the size of tires, his still-white eyebrows yanked up to the beginning of his pink hairline.

My heart ached for him, sympathy and pity oozing out from me.

But—that didn't stop me from yanking out my phone and snapping a few pictures.

Facebook, my dears.

I took a couple cautious steps towards him.

_How could he have gotten so much pink in his hair? _I wondered thoughtfully. Nobody else had that much pink on them…

Oh that's right, the dressing rooms needed to be cleaned…I hope he doesn't remember that _I_ sent him there.

"T-toshirou?" I walked closer to him, my hand reaching out to pat him on the shoulder. This is an excruciatingly traumatizing experience, so I wouldn't be shocked if he went all Freddy Krueger on all of us. It was because of this philosophy that I preceded warily towards the petrified boy.

He didn't respond, but turned around—reaching into his pocket and snatching his phone. His turquoise eyes were now narrowed in determination.

I called out his name again, but he ignored me—as if he had the entire world tuned out of his ears.

Flipping his cell phone open, Toshirou went straight to speed dial.

Interest piqued, I raised my eyebrow. What was Einstein planning now?

On the third ring, the person picked up.

"Hello? Matsumoto? Yeah, fine. Look, I need a favor from you and some of your Victoria's Secret buddies. Okay, so…"

From his curt tone of voice, I knew he meant business. I watched him talk to Rangiku, almost gasping from shock when a mischievous smile adorned his face.

Toshirou, planning revenge? Well, if it isn't against me, then I'm more than okay with it.

Watch out Abercrombie and Fitch.

**Strawberry Punk:**

The cafeteria had just opened; tired workers yawned loudly and rubbed the sleep out of their eyes as the turned on fryers and grills. None looked happy with having to wake up early to start taking orders and preparing food.

Taking a sip of my lemonade, I glanced up at Uryu who was sitting across from me in a booth; a steaming coffee—no doubt from Starbucks—was hanging loosely from his hand as he blew gently against it.

"So," I muttered, still kind of tired, "Why did we rig that emo place's sprinkler system again?" I asked, gesturing with my hand.

Uryu didn't reply immediately. Instead, he took a long mouthful of bitter black coffee before saying, "It was for Mall Wars. Since you're new this year, I suppose you haven't heard of it yet." He paused briefly, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

I braced myself. Whenever he did that, you know he was gonna go all nerd-mode on your ass.

"Abercrombie and Fitch have won every single year of this competition and it's been going on for five years. During the game, you can basically, mess up other stores. For example," He paused before going back on his explanation montage, "Last year, we TPed Aeropostale. The next day, they dropped out of the competition mainly because they didn't want to deal with anymore pranks and such. So in short, you can mess up other stores to make them drop out of Mall Wars but you can't do too much or you're out. Like, two years ago, Hot Topic came and stole our jeans. They were evicted from the competition because of this."

I nodded slowly, trying to comprehend what he was blabbering about. Jeez, this guy talked a lot. Maybe I should've gotten Chad to explain it to me, but then again, the giant probably would've said a few words and expect me to know everything.

Though, a question nagged at my mind ever since Four Eyes had started talking.

"Hey, so, what about that Hot Topic place?"

"Oh, them? Yeah, they're our toughest competition, always coming in second place each year."

"Eh, do you win anything for this?"

At this inquiry, Uryu smirked. "Oh yeah. You know the guy who owns this mall and like every other one on this country?"

I thought for a second—"Byakuya Kuchiki?"

Uryu nodded in confirmation. "Well he lets us go on vacation for a week at any place—you name it, the Bahamas, France, or Italy. And while we're away, the second place winners have to close down their store for a week and take care of our store. Kuchiki throws in twists or might even help a store some days."

I laughed. "So that's why those Hot Topic people hate us so much…" I mused.

He agreed before glancing down at his watch.

"Hey, Ichigo, the mall opens soon. We probably should head back or Tatsuki will eat us."

I sighed, before nodding. Stupid Tatsuki had to be such a slave driver.

"Yeah, let's go."

The second we walked into Abercrombie and Fitch, pandemonium ensued.

Tatsuki cursed.

Ishida blanched.

Orihime screamed.

And Chad…well, Chad was being Chad.

And I would've guffawed if not for the dangerous glare Tatsuki shot me.

Abercrombie had turned into A_bra_crombie.

Bras, panties, underwear, lace, ribbons, frills, flowers, garters, nightgowns, and everything lingerie and more had been tossed, thrown, and taped to every inch of the store.

Lace was duct-taped against the ceiling and arranged in a very…TPish fashion. Bras clung to the cash register—literally. A pair of granny panties was stuffed onto the head of a mannequin; garters were somehow braided together and stuffed underneath the collars of uniform shirts. There was also a mountain of underwear in each of the dressing rooms.

And to top it off, there was a note written in girly handwriting on a double D sized bra that was placed on the counter.

_How do you like us now?_

_Xoxo, Hot Topic & Victoria's Secret bitches!_

Oh wow those guys were good. But a part of my mind wondered…how the _heck_ did they afford to waste so much of this stuff?

Tatsuki gave an angry shriek and immediately began ordering everybody to begin cleaning.

Ishida hurried to the skirts and muttered curses underneath his breath and I think something along the lines of "I'll save you my precious skirts, oh don't worry, I'll make you all better now." He ripped staples off of miniskirts and denim skirts and sewed the holes quickly back up.

Chad, being freakishly tall, had started ripping lace and underwear off the ceiling while Orihime busied herself with making the mannequins presentable once more.

I just kind of stood there, too afraid to laugh, but too much in shock to move until Tatsuki shouted at me to clean out the dressing rooms.

I walked to the changing rooms and started removing bras, panties, and all of the above when I noticed how they were able to afford wasting all of this stuff.

Some bra straps were snapped and the lace had been ripped.

Oh, smart…using messed-up inventory.

As I finished the first room, Tatsuki hollered, "Hurry up! Mall opens in ten minutes!"

I sighed before diving headfirst into a pile of lingerie.

_It's war now, Hot Topic._


	8. It Has Begun

**Um…hi. Please don't kill me! I would stick a bunch of excuses up here, but sadly, I really have none. **

**Also, Bleach doesn't belong to me, neither do the stores. This is all just for fun and my imagination.**

**In case you didn't notice, I changed my username so now its hitherelovely! **

**I hope you guys enjoy this chapter because you sure have waited a while for it!**

**IMPORTANT: If you read the last chapter, I revised it and took out the Zanpaktou characters because it was getting really confusing…Sorry if any of you guys were looking forward to that!**

**Midget Chick:**

_January 1, 2013_

_Dear Diary,_

_The War this year has been brutal and it's only been a week. Our old allies, Victoria's Secret have turned against us, sabotaging Toshirou by bra-ing his car. _

_He almost lost it._

_In addition to the backstabbing, Denny's Pizzeria has refused us of our pasta by allying with those damn Hollisters. _

_I don't know how much longer we can take it—especially sweet Momo. She was ready to launch an all-out assault on Denny's. _

_…I think she's part Italian or something._

_We have won and lost many battles, and only a few sides remain. _

_I-I'm afraid…this year…we may not make it…! Our people are tired._

_But._

_But I cannot let that damn Strawberry win, not now, not _ever_!_

_Thus, Diary, I have the greatest plan of sabotage known to man. It would make even Alexander the Great giggle. I will explain to the troops later today._

_-Rukia_

I finished writing in my journal titled, "The Mall Wars". It may be strange, but each year, I like documenting the different tactics so that we can know what to expect from our enemies.

I glanced at my phone. It blinked back 9:30 AM. I stretched, stifling a yawn.

I looked around our deserted store. The mall wasn't even open yet but there was inventory to do. Shoving my journal back into the counter, I trudged tiredly to the back of the store.

In case you didn't know, inventory sucks ass.

**Strawberry Punk:**

"Men! And Orihime! Are you prepared for battle?!" Tatsuki roared as we lined up side-by-side in front of the cash register. I winced as I felt one of my eardrums get blasted away by her _very_ loud voice.

She paced in front of us, a ruler thwacking in her palm. Did we even own rulers in the store…?

"Today, we take down PacSun! As you may know, these California-loving hipsters are known allies with Hot Topic, our greatest enemy. Any thoughts or questions, soldiers?"

Ishida raised his hand, the other one was arched at his forehead like a legitimate soldier.

_What the hell is wrong with him…_

"Yes, Ishida?"

"Captain, I say we launch a Tactic Six!"

Tatsuki grinned. Like the Cheshire Cat except maybe even more creepy because Tatsuki _never_ grins.

"Yes, I agree. A Tactic Six it is! I want you _all_ here after mall hours." I began to interrupt, but she snapped, " No buts, Ichigo! This is an order!"

I sighed.

Just what exactly is a Tactic Six?

**Midget Chick:**

"Hey guys—I have a plan for taking down one of A & F's major buddies." I announced as Toshirou, Momo, Renji, and I sat in a booth enjoying lattes from Starbucks.

Toshirou raised an eyebrow, Renji seemed interested, and Momo muttered something about killing pizza bastards.

"Hollister." I said simply, crossing my arms, my smugness obviously radiating.

Everybody around me nodded. Two years ago, those preppy idiots tag-teamed us but then A & F deserted their allies, but they seem to be talking again.

"We must make a move before them." The white-haired boy murmured. Renji nodded his assent.

Then the pineapple said, "How about a Method Three?" I almost spit out my latte.

"A Method _Three_?" I spluttered, slamming my hands against the table. "You're joking, right?" A Method Three is way, _way_ too chaotic.

Toshirou seemed to be deep in thought. "No, he's right, Rukia. This could work. This could work quite well." I looked at him in disbelief. Toshirou is supposed to be the smart one! I turned to Momo, looking for her input. The peach nodded. "Rukia, this is what we have to do. Divide and conquer, right?" She replied airily.

I bit my lip, contemplating. Yes, a Method Three could work. We just have to be extremely careful.

"Alright, guys. A Method Three it is." I gave my assent, slurping up more of my drink.

Renji jumped and Momo beamed.

Just then, my phone rang and Chappy the Bunny's theme song filling up the air. I reached into my pocket, pulled out my phone, and answered.

"Hello?"

"Rukia."

I felt the wind get sucked from my lungs.

"K-kaien?!"

**So what do you guys think? Please leave a review! Sorry for the short chapter and lack of IchiRuki, I promise to make up for it next time. **


	9. Sugar, We're Going Down

**Hey guys. Guess how much I love you? A lot. Cause I'm spending my Saturday night knocking this out. Or I just have no friends…Anyways, thanks for all the reviews! They made me smile and helped me with my writing! I LOVE ALL OF YOU! MWAH!**

**Again, Bleach doesn't belong to me, neither do these stores—this is all just for fun!**

**Midget Chick:**

I didn't go to school today. My brother was easily fooled of course—a few loud, hoarse coughs coupled with low mumbling and sniffles had him writing an absence note in seconds. I have literally been in my bed all day, maybe not physically sick, but emotionally, yes I would consider myself dying of a disease. It's not something I can control, either. It's just…_there_. A stab wound that slowly twists deeper into you, excruciatingly agonizing, with no relief.

_He's back… _I thought, burrowing my face into a fluffy pillow. I proceeded to hug my Chappy the Bunny plush, nearly choking all the stuffing out of it. It seemed Chappy was the only one who could understand me at the moment. If Byakuya knew, he would have a freaking cow and probably hunt _him_ down with a shotgun. A sigh escaped me as I lazily scrolled through my phone.

Two missed calls and three texts from Renji, a voicemail from Momo, and a text from Toshirou telling me not to be late for work.

_Wait…work?_

I gasped suddenly. Oh _shit!_ We were going to take down Hollister tonight! I threw a quick glance at the clock.

5:45.

Well, crap.

Ripping the sheets off of me, I scrambled to my closet.

"No, no, no…!" I muttered as I tore through my clothes, finally settling on a pair of black leggings and a dark sweater. Quickly throwing a glance at the mirror, I didn't bother with makeup or making my hair even somewhat presentable as I dashed through the hallway.

I was downstairs in two minutes and as I wrenched open the front door, a hand slammed it closed. I squeaked in shock and tottered a couple steps back.

Gulping, I looked up at who was blocking my way.

"Nii-sama," I greeted, looking up at the grey eyes of my brother. Byakuya raised an eyebrow, as if daring me to question him. "You told me you were ill, Rukia. Why is it that I see you heading out into the cold with nothing but a measly sweater?" If you had never met my brother before, you would think that he sounded indifferent. Of course, he is always aloof, but if you stay with him long enough, you'd be able to pick up on the slight tremors in his calm voice.

He was fucking pissed.

The floor seemed awfully interesting as my eyes looked straight down at my sneakers. Oh, right. I'm sick. I coughed noisily a couple times for extra effect.

"Um, Nii-sama, I forgot to call in sick today and my boss is expecting me and there are a lot of customers and all…" I trailed off, knowing it sounded bad to my own ears.

I mean, the guy owns the place.

He said nothing and I braced myself for the punishment. Lying to him, skipping school, being late to work…the list could go on. Would I be grounded? Or worse, be fired from my job?

To my surprise, Byakuya reached into his pocket and threw me his keys. My eyes widened in shock as my clumsy fingers scrabbled to grab them from the air.

"Take the Mercedes." He said, turning back around and heading for his office. I stared at him, dumbfounded, before realization got up, screamed at me, and slapped me in the face.

"Thank you, Nii-sama!" I practically squealed, throwing open the front door. He suddenly stopped walking and my heart fell as I thought he would change his mind.

"Oh, and Rukia?"

"Yes, Nii-sama?"

"Do not let those Abercrombie employees beat you. Is that clear?"

"Crystal!"

And I charged out the door, sickness obviously forgotten as I unlocked my brother's Mercedes. As I peeled open the door, I slowly sat down and shut it. I inhaled the car's cool, brisk, pine scent and my eyes raked over the plush, black leather interior.

I gave myself a good twenty seconds to sit and admire—before shoving the keys into ignition and roaring out of the driveway.

**Strawberry Punk:**

_She wasn't at school today…_I thought as I leaned on the check-out counter, my hand holding my face up. I shook my head, as if that would clear my thoughts. "She's the enemy, don't forget." I muttered, reminding myself. Today was going by really slow—seeing as was only Wednesday. Come Friday and all hell would break loose in Abercrombie.

I sighed and watched an old couple squawk loudly to each other as they browsed through jeans for their grandkids.

I snorted. They were better off saving money for their retirement.

It was because today was going by so slow that we had planned the Tactic 6 for midnight tonight. Once explained to me, I quickly realized that I built my hopes much too high for our little "attack."

With the way Ishida was talking, you would've thought that the four-eyed sewing machine was thinking about tanks and nuclear warfare. Nonetheless, it was a pretty good, well-thought out plan that he was obviously proud of.

He made me a chart and everything.

I started staring out in space, thinking about nothing in particular—well, if you call nothing in particular a certain raven-headed girl.

"Ichigo!"

The sudden shout knocked me out of my reverie. From the far entrance of our store, I saw Tatsuki striding in with somebody in tow.

I looked at her in confusion. It looked very nostalgic—she was dragging me to the counter, yelling something about too many customers—only that it _wasn't_ me.

She stopped in front of the counter and beamed. Gesturing to the guy beside her, I noticed that I hadn't gone crazy, because the guy wasn't me, but he _could've_ been a clone. We stared at each other, assessing, and for some reason unknown to me, I could already feel distaste for this stranger.

He reached out his hand.

I shook it.

He tightened his grip.

I snatched my hand away.

He smiled, "Hi. I'm Kaien." I nodded. "Ichigo." I replied curtly. His grin widened.

"Nice to meet you, I'll be working here from now on."

**Midget Chick:**

I rushed to the front of the store, panting for breath.

"I'm…here…guys…" I gasped out, bending over and supporting myself on a stack of jeans.

Momo's head poked out from behind a clothes rack. "Oh, Rukia! You're here!"

From the back of the store, I heard what sounded suspiciously like a pineapple-head yell my name.

I smiled as Momo skipped towards me. "Yes, I'm here for work because I didn't forget about our operation tonight." I said confidently, placing my hands on my hips. Momo sighed, rolling her eyes in fake exasperation. "Skipping school _and_ lying to your boss? My, my, Rukia." She giggled.

In case any of you didn't know, yes Momo is my boss. She's been working here two years longer than I have—she also gets paid four dollars more than me by the hour.

I scanned around the store, looking for a flash of fluffy white.

_He's the one who told me not to be late_…I thought, frowning. _Freaking hypocrite._

Momo seemed to notice because her mood turned sour **fast**.

"If you're looking for Hitsugaya-san, he isn't here." She grumbled, crossing her arms.

I winced. Ouch.

"Wow, Hitsugaya-_san_? What did he do this time?" I asked, bracing myself for the worst. If possible, Momo's mood took a nosedive.

"He's with that bitch, _Karin_. She keeps saying stuff about needing help with soccer." She snarled, hatred lacing her voice as she said her name. Wow. Talk about jealous? I never thought I would hear good old, Baptist, Momo say that.

"O…kay." I replied. "So, do you like Toshirou or something…?"

If she had been bad before, this was nothing compared to it. "No…!" She growled, crossing her arms. "Why would I like some short, stupid, job-ditching _midget_?!"

"What did I just hear, Momo?" As if we were in One Tree Hill or something, Toshirou stepped into Hot Topic right on cue and I could feel the laughter bubbling up inside of me as I fought to keep it down.

The brunette whirled around on the young prodigy. "You heard me. And it's Hinamori-san to you." She glared at him and if looks could kill, Toshirou would be bleeding all over a shelf of band-T's. He snorted.

"More like Bed-wetter Momo."

"You _suck_."

"Seriously, Mo, what did I do…?"

With an _hmmph_ of anger, Momo turned around and marched into the stock room. The sound of boxes crashing and Renji yelling alerted me that she had probably surprised him and he most likely screwed something up. Toshirou shuffled slowly towards me, a baffled look smeared on his face.

"Rukia. Do _you_ know what I did?" He asked in confusion. I laughed and shook my head no. "Toshirou-chan, you might be a genius in your own right, but you obviously don't know a thing about girls."

He was obviously disturbed by the recent turn of events as he didn't even correct me on the right way to say his name.

I secretly breathed a sigh of relief. If Momo wasn't so pissed off at Toshirou, she probably would've noticed that I was acting weird and then I would've had no choice but to tell her that _he_ was back.

I clenched my fists in frustration_. You can't even fucking _think_ his name out loud. __**Get over it, Rukia**__. It happened—so what? _ I snapped at myself. I shook my head, as if that would clear these jumbled thoughts out of my head.

"Head up, Kuchiki. You've got a job to do." I murmured.

It was exactly 10:30 on the dot. The mall had officially closed for the night and many employees were rushing from stores to get home. I reached up and yanked down the railing, securing it down with locks before heading to the back of the store, turning off all of the lights.

In the inventory room, Toshirou, Momo, and Renji had already gathered—all dressed in black.

Toshirou was shifting uncomfortably, pulling at a black beanie that we stuck on him. The white of his hair would give us away, so it was between this, and a random ninja mask we found underneath one of the shelves.

He didn't question it.

Reaching into my back pocket, I pulled out a blueprint of the mall. Courtesy of Byakuya.

Hollister was 'X'ed with a red sharpie and Hot Topic was circled with a green one. We were on the same floor so it made things a bit easier. I went over the plan with my fellow soldiers. All of them focused intently, listening to every word I said, occasionally asking a question or two. When I finished, I folded the map back into my pocket.

"Alright, any questions?"

"…"

"…"

"…What's the red X again?" A stupid pineapple asked.

**WHACK!**

"_OUCH!_"

**Strawberry Punk:**

"You guys ready?" Ishida whispered. I nodded; definitely ready. We had gone over the plan at least fifty times before Tatsuki was satisfied. Not that it was complicated or anything. We were all standing behind Ishida as he was trying to get our entrance open. It was currently 11:30 pm at Karakura Mall. Four-eyes quickly finished picking the lock to PacSun with some kind of long ass sewing needle. The second the lock clicked, Chad was there pulling up the guard rail and we were in.

"Alright, guys, remember not to damage any of their stuff too bad. Let's keep it somewhat civil. Just enough to scare the crap outta them." Tatsuki commanded as we crept into the store. Our fearless leader then proceeded to jerk an egg out of her pocket and launched it into a clearance rack.

_So much for civil…_

Yanking out a flashlight from my pocket, I stuck it between my teeth as I started unraveling the toilet paper that I had brought. From the corner of my eye, I watched that new guy warily. He obviously seemed to know what he was doing, as he was quickly and efficiently whip-creaming the shelves.

Once I had enough toilet paper, I walked over to one of the mannequins and started making a mummy. The flimsy paper kept ripping as I tried to wrap it around a knee.

"Here, like this Ichigo-kun."

My look-alike popped up from behind me and managed to wrap up two mannequins in the time that it took for me to wrap a leg. My usual scowl deepened.

"Thanks, but I got it." I muttered. He shrugged and went off to cause more mayhem.

_Of course he's good at it. He's done this before. _I said to myself, my dislike for him rising to intolerance.

**Earlier that day…**

_"Tatsuki, are you sure it's such a good idea for some noob to join us, especially tonight?" I whispered at my boss. Tatsuki chuckled, crossing her arms and looking at me like I was an idiot. "It's because he's a certain noob that I want him on our side." _

_"What?" _

_She looked at me and said, "Ichigo, this is Kaien Shiba. The guy's a freaking legend. A couple of years ago, he worked at Hot Topic. While he was employed there, they never lost a single Mall War _once_. He's a genius at this, don't worry. And if there's anybody I would want on our side, it sure as fuck is him." She paused for a moment, trying to think of something else. "I think he taught that black-haired girl that works there a lot about Mall Wars too, but she shouldn't be a problem."_

_She patted me on the shoulder and went to scream at Chad that the skinny jeans were different from leggings._

**Current time…**

Just thinking about it made me irritated. Kaien Shiba obviously knew Rukia and apparently taught her everything she knows.

Great just _great_.

A sudden rumbling noise abruptly filled the room.

We froze like statues.

_BUM…BUM…BUM_

The noise repeated itself and I realized that it was coming from _above_ us. I scrunched my brows in confusion. What is going on?

"What the…?" I couldn't even finish my sentence.

Because at that moment, Rukia Kuchiki appeared—tumbling out of an air vent.

**Thanks for reading! GUYS. WE ARE ALMOST AT 100 REVIEWS. IF YOU GUYS CAN MAKE IT TO 100, I WILL UPDATE IN A WEEK. PROMISE.**

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**I hope you enjoyed this chapter(:**


	10. Strawberries and the Clone

**AHHHH! YOU ****_GUYS_****! We're at 110 reviews as of me writing this right now. Thanks so much for the amazing support! **

**I'm sorry I lied…I know I said a week, but we're having semester exams now so it kind of sucks. **

**Special thanks to my SUPER ****AMAZING**** Beta, EchoingBreeze! You guys should go check her stuff out(: **

**_Half an hour ago…_**

**Midget Chick:**

I held the flashlight between my teeth, the light shining on the map.

"Alright Momo, we're almost there," I called to the girl crawling behind me. I wasn't sure if she could hear me because of the flashlight in my mouth, but I assumed she understood by the way she nodded.

We were in the vents of the mall, slowly making our way to Hollister. The boys had stayed behind, as they would never fit in the cramped corridors of the air-vents. The plan was that they would bring the supplies—eggs, toilet papers, etc—and wait outside for us to climb into the store and unlock the doors for them.

I puffed and blew a stray strand of hair out of my face. They got the easier job, by _far_.

I slowly continued to army-crawl through the long passageway, pausing occasionally to check the blueprints. You know all those James Bond and other spy movies where secret agents swing into air vents and have no problem crawling their way through? Yeah. That's a huge lie. We were both sweating bullets from the exertion required the heave ourselves along. After about five more minutes of grunting and worming through the vents, we had arrived.

"Momo! It's here!" I heard nothing but huffing and wheezing for a few seconds before, "Yes! Finally, dammit!"

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small screwdriver. My brunette friend shined her flashlight at the screws. Within seconds, the metal door leading to Hollister was flung open and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Clambering down, (with the help of a shelf of jeans) I gave Momo a high-five once we were both safely on the ground. My brunette friend muttered something about making the boys pay for Urahara's after our mission. I agreed whole-heartedly.

Quickly heading to the front of the store, we unlocked the doors and let Renji and Toshirou in.

The pineapple smirked at me. "Took ya long enough!" I stuck my tongue at him childishly. "Let's see you try and crawl through those vents," I muttered. He didn't reply and simply handed me a carton of eggs.

His comment was quickly forgiven.

A grin that would've made the Cheshire Cat proud stretched across my face.

A SPLAT resounded from the store as I launched an egg—jeans were the first casualties of war.

Then, the sabotage began.

Within a couple of minutes, Toshirou and Momo had unraveled a couple of toilet paper rolls, Renji had emptied two silly string cans, and me?

Well, let me just say a dozen eggs really aren't enough.

By the time we were done, it looked like a giant teenage party had broken out in the store. A giant teenage party mixed with some NFL players; suffice to say, I was pretty proud of our handiwork.

"Good work team!" I called, laughing as Renji doused Toshirou in some celebratory whip-cream. I had to take a picture. Reaching into my pocket, I grabbed my phone—or what was supposed to be my phone. My hand came up empty, save an old receipt and a couple fuzzies.

"Huh…?" I searched all my pockets, brows furrowing as I realized my phone was gone. My eyes drifted up, towards where my phone might've gone missing.

The air vents.

I cursed under my breath.

"Rukia? What's wrong?" A familiar voice questioned. I turned and looked at Momo.

"I dropped my phone up _there_…!" I groaned, my lips pulling into a frown. She looked puzzled. "Are you sure? I mean, I was right behind you and I didn't feel anything…"

She was right. We were crawling like snakes through the narrow tubes so there was pretty much no chance that she didn't notice it. Asking to borrow her phone, I climbed up to the air vent and called my number.

**_CALLING RUKIACHAPPYBUNNY…_**

Wow. That was my name on her phone? Not exactly surprising, I suppose.  
I pressed my ear against the metal guard, heart sinking as I heard the familiar ringtone of Chappy the Bunny echo through the ventilation system.

I sighed unhappily. "Yep, it's up there."

I turned around and looked at my fellow Hot Topicers. "Guys, I gotta grab my phone. Finish up here and I'll meet you back at the store!"

With that, I climbed into the vent in search of my phone.

**Strawberry Clone (AKA KAIEN):**

My phone buzzed in the pocket of my jeans, alerting me to a text message. I paused in my assault of silly-stringing shoes, and even though I knew who it was, I pulled out my phone, the bright glare momentarily blinding me.

**Date:** Tuesday, January 15, 2013, 6:25 PM  
**From:** Miyako  
**To:** Kaien  
_Bby, i didnt mean it and Taieko needs his daddy. Plz come back…_

I felt a humorless smile etch itself onto my face as I stared at the screen.

_I wonder…was this how Rukia felt?  
_  
**Midget Chick:**

"Ugh. I sincerely hate myself," I muttered as I scrambled through the cramped space. Not-so-happy memories began to filter through my mind, now that I didn't have the distraction of my friends and the focus of the mission at hand.

"Of all times…why does that bastard have to come back now?" I murmured in distaste. Seriously—my life was finally settled after the last time he was in Karakura.

Now that he's here again…what do I do? What _can_ I do?

_Forget about him_, my mind snapped at me. _He left you, remember? He's nothing now. Don't even think about him. _

I groaned in frustration.

This sucks.

Again, I dialed my number on Momo's phone and instantly brightened as a familiar ringtone filled the narrow passageway.

There it was!

My beautiful phone was just a couple feet away, nestled at a bend in the air vent.

With a cry of triumph, I sprung after it; my hand clutching the phone, hoping to never lose it again. I beamed, a feeling of victory dancing through me. That glorious feeling didn't last long, as a rumbling noise soon filled the cramped corridor.

It was around then that I realized that air vents really aren't all that stable. It was also around then that I came to the realization that I had jumped right onto a metal grate.

A metal grate that opened.

Screaming at the top of my lungs, I tumbled out of the opening, waves of fear crashing down on me.

_I'm gonna die…I'm gonna die…I'm gonna die!_

Funny. Wasn't my life supposed to be flashing through my eyes?

**Strawberry Punk:**

Holy _shit_.

My eyes widened in utter disbelief.

"Rukia?!"

Said girl just literally fell from the sky—er, ceiling. Fortunately, she had landed head-first into a giant carton of 50% off shirts. Rukia gasped for breath as she swam to the top of the giant pile of clothing. She carefully maneuvered herself out of the clearance heap. She looked confused and quite pissed off.

I guess that's around when she spotted me.

"_You!_" She hissed. "What are you doing here?" She stalked over to me, hands on her hips, like a teacher demanding why a stink bomb had been launched into her classroom window.

I snorted.

"I could say the same about you, midget."

"Midget? Who do you think you are?"

"Kurosaki Ichigo…_midget_."

She opened her mouth to retort, but a different voice intercepted her comeback.

"Kuchiki?"

A tug of irritation pulled at me as soon as I recognized the voice.

Her eyes immediately widened and she bit her lip, while I raised an eyebrow in shock.

Was Rukia Kuchiki nervous? What the hell is going on?

From the back of the store, everybody else was still occupied with assaulting PacSun, except for my evil twin. He walked towards her and smiled—nope, actually, the bastard _beamed_ like a friggin' sun at Rukia.

My scowl deepened.

Rukia was frozen in shock. I wondered if I pushed her over she would shatter into a million pieces. When I glanced at her face, I concluded that I was probably right. Her face blanched into a snowy landscape and her violet orbs paled to lavender. Her tiny hands clenched into fists and she bit her lip so hard that a drop of blood pooled, threatening to stain the snow.

I was baffled.

_Why? Why was she like this, if he had been her mentor?_

As I looked at Kaien, my distrust and distaste for the man rose. He was approaching her like…like she was a dog that he had beaten, an abused dog that always came back because of undying loyalty.

"Kuchiki. It's been a while, how are you?" He grinned casually, though it did seem just a tad bit forced. Rukia flinched as he said her name, but quickly hid it in a cough. She took a small step back.

"F-fine. Kaien-dono," She muttered back. He stepped closer to her and didn't even seem to notice as she scuttled back a few feet. Or he did and just chose to ignore it.

"Are you? That's great," He pursed his lips. "Kuchiki," he abruptly said, accusation lacing his words; she stiffened at his tone of voice. "You've gotten so thin. I told you before—"

"Always snack during breaks. I got it, Kaien-dono."

He smiled again, and I suddenly felt like an intruder to their own private world. It almost felt like I was a fly on the wall of some star-crossed lovers. For some reason, it irritated me.

_This is none of your business_, I snapped in my head before forcing myself to walk away.

Without a word to either of them, I turned and moved to the back of the store. I ran a hand through my unruly orange locks, frustration threatening to bury me alive.

How long has he known her? Why is their relationship so…tense? Questions pounded me like hail. Why was Rukia so sad? Why did I even care?

I gritted my teeth.

**Strawberry Clone:**

I really screwed up.

No, I mean _really_.

At first Rukia looked appalled; disgusted at the fact that I was here, but then her eyes spoke volumes.

She…hated me?

She crossed her arms, refusing even to look me in the eye. I stared in surprise at the girl that I had always teased and taunted. Even though I noogied her countless time when we were in middle school—I was in the eighth grade, she was in the seventh and I tutored her—she would always run to me, laughing like she had a hilarious secret that nobody else knew.

Now, it was like a block of ice replaced her previous radiance.

I tried talking to her, prattling about old times; talking about when she couldn't understand some pre-algebra problem or couldn't recite the preamble.

Rukia never said a word.

And I couldn't take it, so I ventured out into no man's land.

"Rukia, about before, I'm sorry. I really am. Miyako isn't—"

She stopped me short. "Kaien-dono, it's done. Please get over it. Send Miyako-nii my regards when you go home," by the way eyes were glued to the floor I knew she was crying.

Rukia never cried.

Without another word, she had sprinted out of the store, her footsteps resounding in the dark.

And I let her.

**So what did you guys think? Please leave a review! And does anybody know if the Bleach anime is ever coming back?**


	11. A Development

**Hey it's been a while, sorry for my laziness…**

**You guys should all go thank my super awesome beta, Bree Avalon, for reminding me to update and helping me with my horrible grammar!**

* * *

**Strawberry Punk:**

"Does anybody know where Kuchiki-san is?"

Ukitake asked us that right in the middle of class. There were a couple of shrugs and mutters, but in general, nobody knew where the midget had gone. She's skipped school three days now.

Even that dumbass pineapple didn't know—he seemed concerned as he turned to a brunette beside him and started whispering frantically.

I pulled at my tie, once again cursing our school. Of course, I'm not worried. I leaned back in my chair and yawned. Math is boring, I noted absentmindedly.

In the front of the classroom, our silver-haired teacher ducked as an airplane flew right past him. Chuckling nervously he asked, "Does anybody want to take a couple assignments by her place? Too much missing work is bad."

There was a quiet pause in the classroom and I suspected nobody would want to but then two hands shot up like rockets in the back of the room.

I scowled, my face twisting into a dark frown.

The Pineapple and the Clone…right. Both of them were staring straight at Ukitake with a determination that could move mountains. My eye instinctively twitched at their absurdity. I scoffed. Idiots.

And our teacher looked around the classroom, not even noticing the fire blazing from both of those idiots. Was he blind or something? They were acting like it was some sort of fight to the death.

…I think my clone was praying.

Ukitake then glanced at me. And smiled—no, actually, he _beamed_ a ten-thousand watt grin, blinding my eyes momentarily. I blinked, clearing away the sunshine of his grin.

"Alright, Kurosaki-kun, please take last week's geometry worksheet to her! If you could also let her borrow your notes, it would be appreciated."

I arched my eyebrow. What was this guy…_doing_?

That was when I realized that my hand has been "up" this entire time. From where my head was leaning on my arm, it looked like I was raising my hand.

Oh crap.

"Ah…Ukitake-sensei, I wasn't volunteering—" I tried to get his attention but the man had magically produced a marker and was already scribbling random numbers and a couple square roots on the board.

And then I had to scramble and beg for a piece of paper from Tatsuki to write notes on. Not that my chicken scratch made any sense anyways.

I sighed and ran a head through my flaming locks.

"Stupid midget…screwing things up even when you're not here."

**Later that day…**

Is this the right place…?

The scrap of paper that Ukitake had given me matched the address but—

My eyes scanned over the _palace_. The house was immense, at least four stories that stretched to the sky. The lawn was trimmed impeccably and looked like a botanist's dream—there was even a fountain that spewed water in front of the house with a little naked-ass angel.

Like the nude baby angles that were sculpted by Michelangelo or something.

No way. There was no way a little dwarf like her could use up so much space.

I stood uncertain in front of the entrance, comparing the marble numbers engraved on the double door and the paper.

600: the door

600: the _paper_

My scowl deepened.

Then I realized that her brother was filthy rich…he owned about half of the malls in Japan. So, _maybe_ this was within the realm of possible…?

Sighing, I leaned forward and pushed the doorbell. I almost ran away right then. It was a creepy, deep, bell that you would hear in the ancient churches of Europe. My ears picked up the quiet padding of footsteps before the door was flung open.

I blinked several times. The man who opened the door was tall and his face screamed aristocrat with a look of cool nonchalance, high cheekbones and a straight nose. He was familiar; I had seen him several times on different covers of various entrepreneur and business magazines.

I nodded and bowed politely.

"Oh, hi, I came to give Rukia her—"

A fiery look of pure hatred was all I received before I was abruptly cut off.

"You dare show your face here, _Shiba_?"

My mind whirled and my confusion must have reflected on my face. Shiba?

Then realization hit me like a ton of bricks.

My damn clone.

Cursing inwardly, I tried, really, _really_ tried to show him that I wasn't that stupid copycat.

"Um, Kuchiki…san, I'm not him—er, Kaien I mean." I said this in a low, calm voice.

"You may have altered your hair into that _unsightly_ hue, but you will not fool me." He said with arrogance laced in his voice. Ignoring his comment about my hair color, I stood awkwardly, scratching the nape of my neck and trying to explain to him again.

"Look, my name is Kurosaki Ichigo—"

I stopped short when out of freaking nowhere, he magically produced a katana blade.

I laughed nervously—this _had_ to be the wrong house. Unsheathing it with flourish, he didn't give me any time to react before he stabbed it towards my face.

Leaping backwards, I narrowly dodged it. If Kenpachi hadn't beaten my ass for all those years back at the dojo, I would be a strawberry shish kabob.

Not giving me a second to breathe, the crazy man was swinging at me again. I tucked and rolled to the left as the sword was jabbed to my side; I wasn't fast enough, as a long cut appeared on the side of my leg. The blood stained the grey color of my pants and I knew Yuzu was going to flip out. Ignoring the numbing pain, I watched him warily as he twisted the sword between his fingers.

He certainly knew how to use a sword.

_Should I call the cops…?_ I wondered briefly. Or would a psychiatric warren be more appropriate? I could only imagine how many nice guys with big needles he would need.

There was a _whish_ of air as the sword skimmed the back of my hair; my eyes widened as I dodged it by, well, a hair.

"Hey, **baka**! I told you, I'm not that stupid Shiba!" I shouted at the ignorant bastard. Jeez, this isn't even legal! What the hell?

"Words will not help you now." He said smoothly before swinging the edge at my face. I ducked, panting, but he was expecting that, and he knocked me flat on my butt with a sweep of his leg.

I winced in pain…the ground was littered with sharp rocks that my butt was not very fond of.

The sword gleamed with relish in the sun as he snapped it back before sliding it under my chin. Even though he seemed so calm and composed, there was an evil gleam in this guy's eyes.

It freaked me out.

"Anything you want to say before your demise?"

I gritted my teeth.

"Yeah, we're not in the Edo era anymore."

The blade inched closer to my neck and I gulped.

"I'm not Kaien Shiba—"

His eyes narrowed dangerously and for a second, I was caught off guard by how utterly cold he looked. "I already told you not to tell me such lies, _boy_."

I growled, "I'm not lying!" How long would it take for the guy to get it through his thick skull?

He scoffed haughtily and snapped his sword back, readjusting it in his hand.

"If you're lucky, you might wake up in the hospital, Shiba—"

_"_NII-SAMA_, STOP!_"

My eyes snapped to the voice…familiar.

My attacker seemed to know it as well; he paused.

Her name was in both of our minds.

_Rukia_.

The girl was sprinting towards us from the house and a wave of relief crashed over me. I had never been so reassured to see the stupid midget.

She screeched to a halt, right before crashing into her brother.

She was gasping for breath, but she handed the elder Kuchiki something.

It was a pair of thinly-framed spectacles.

"It's not Kaien, Nii-sama…" The amethyst-eyed girl murmured softly.

He took a quick glance at me, before sliding the glasses on, squinting through the lenses Rukia brought him. _What the…_

Her brother looked at me and blinked several times.

"Oh. _Oh._ You are correct, Rukia. This boy…is certainly not Kaien Shiba."

He didn't even look sorry…or even slightly sheepish!

I felt like karate-chopping his face.

Rukia chuckled nervously. "Please don't go…_attacking_ people with Senbonzakura without your spectacles, Nii-sama. I'm not sure how many more lawsuits we can handle…." She gave him a small pat on the back. He sniffed indignantly.

The psycho nodded once, then turned around and sheathed his blade, sauntering away.

Rukia mumbled an apology before whirling viciously on me.

"Are you hurt anywhere? And don't you dare sue us or I will kick your ass!"

She was the complete antithesis of how an apology should be like, with her hands on her hips and her chin arched forward in pride.

My eye twitched. "That's not exactly how you ask somebody to pardon you, dumbass."

She shrugged. And then her eyes traveled downward and she saw the blood that stained my leg.

"Crap."

And before I knew it, she had grabbed my hand and was hauling me back to her castle…where the psycho was currently residing in.

"HEY! I'M _NOT_ GOING IN THERE!"

**Midget Chick:**

"Sit."

"No."

"_Now_."

He crossed his arms and stubbornly refused; shaking his head side to side. It looked like there was a giant fireball alight on his hair…it would send any sensible firefighter running towards the nearest fire hydrant.

A swift kick to the shin had him staggering backwards into the chair. He hissed, wincing in agony and I quietly snickered.

I crouched down and inspected the wound my brother had inflicted. It wasn't too long or that deep, which was good. It was shallow and ran up the front of his calf. Settling down on the floor, I grabbed the first aid kit, pulling out some bandages and rubbing alcohol.

"You know, you're shorter than usual."

And I promptly dumped all the disinfectant on his leg. He tensed for a few seconds before his girly scream echoed throughout the house.

The stupid strawberry shut up quite promptly after that.

After sticking a couple Band-Aids on his leg, I wrapped it neatly before looking at him proudly. I did a great job; Renji constantly getting into fights had its perks. My smug aura must've shown through because he also looked down at his leg.

His eyes widened in horror at my handiwork.

"You suck at this."

I slapped with a vengeance, the final bandage on the wound, ignoring his flinch of pain. I stood up and put away the first aid kit.

"So, why did you come here again?"

Kurosaki looked blank. He blinked. Once. Twice. Then realization dawned on him; what an idiot.

"Right! It's all the past work you've been missing."

Oh, crap.

He reached into his messenger bag and pulled out a stack of papers; I almost fainted.

"It's all for geometry, we're learning trig." He said with sick relish, plopping it into my arms before turning around.

"Have fun~" A little wave of his arm.

I gaped.

"Er, wait—strawberry!"

He turned around, a sly look in his eye.

"What?"

You see, I've never been good at math. Nii-sama calls it my Achilles' Heel, but I call it Lucifer. And the whole SOH CAH TOA and whatever the hell about hippies tripping on acid did not work with my math-challenged brain.

Another thing I've never been good at is asking for help. However, if I get another C on my transcript, Byakuya will birth a cow.

I gritted my teeth. I'd have to ask the stupid strawberry.

"Um…" I looked at the ground and shuffled my feet, "Can you help me with this?"

If possible, his smug grin spread even more.

"Oh, but _why_?"

I pondered for a moment.

"You know that last English test? The one on Odysseus?" I asked innocently.

His grin deteriorated. Instead, it was replaced by a more wary look. I decided I like that one better.

"I heard you got a 58…" I trailed off, "But I scored the highest—108."

I mean, I don't like to brag, but if math is my Achilles' Heel then English is probably my Achilles' arm dipped twice into the River Styx and then armed with about twenty nukes.

Or fifty. Depends on whether I study or not.

To my joy, the smug look was wiped off of Kurosaki's face in an instant. Now he had that trademark scowl of his. I inwardly laughed. Oh, what an idiot.

He suddenly grinned.

Like a full-out beaming, sunshine, My Little Pony on steroids grin.

"Let's make a deal," he started,

"You help me in English and I'll help you in math."

I arched an eyebrow and crossed my arms.

"As in tutoring, baka?"

He frowned. "Yes, chibi."

"You know that's against the rules."

"What rules?"

"Mall Wars. Its unspoken but rival stores aren't supposed to really associate with each other—_at all_."

He shrugged. "I don't really give a damn, I just know that I want to pass English and I'm guessing your brother will turn that katana on you if you don't pass Geometry."

I narrowed my eyes.

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right.

"Fine."

He smirked.

"Tomorrow at 5, library," He said, walking away.

"Don't be late."

I had a feeling that I was going to see a lot more of the stupid Strawberry than usual.

* * *

**Sorry for the delay guys! I'll try to update again next week, because school's out now.**

**Thanks for all of your amazing support and please review!**

**-hitherelovely**


	12. The End

**Midget Chick:**

"Um, who's Shakespeare?"

I gaped, utterly appalled. Slamming the textbook down on his head, I snapped, "Don't you ever, _ever_, say that again in my presence!"

A couple of old librarians hissed at me to 'please be quiet, we are in a library' but I rolled my eyes. Really, who would care? We were the only ones in here besides the books.

Kurosaki was an idiot among stupids. Really, he shined bright.

Yelling in pain and nursing a huge lump on his orange head, he glared at me. I ignored his death stare and promptly retrieved the textbook. In our English class, we were currently working on one of Shakespeare's more famous plays—_Romeo and Juliet_. Although I prefer _Hamlet_, with all the blood and killing and stuff, Romeo's idiocy does amuse me a bit.

Speaking of Romeo, I took a sidelong glance at the Strawberry, the idiot had been casted. I have no idea how he gets himself into so many situations but it's hilarious.

I happen to be the tree that Romeo climbs on to make out with Juliet.

Yuck.

But whatever. I shall play my part brilliantly, like Nii-sama expects of me.

Anyways, to explain just how Strawberry got the part of Romeo…

**Several Hours Ago…**

The class was noisy as always, airplanes flying through the air and that one couple that's always making out in the corner.

I slumped against the desk and looked at my teacher.

"Yamamoto's fallen asleep again." Momo commented lightly.

She was right. Our dinosaur of a professor was standing behind the podium, his hands resting on his cane, and his mouth open with drool. A couple troublemakers had used a marker (I'm pretty sure it was permanent) and drawn a nice Hitler mustache on our poor, fossilized teacher.

"Shouldn't we wake him up?" Toshirou asked, "This is getting boring." His eyes were dull and he looked positively jaded. The problem with Toshirou's genius was that he always needed something to occupy him. That's why he likes school and when he gets home, he always has something to do.

Rangiku calls him a workaholic and I don't particularly disagree.

A sudden snickering caught my attention and I turned around, narrowing my eyes at that baka.

Strawberry.

He had some sort of trumpet in his hands and Ishida was trying to teach him how to place his fingers on it or whatever when abruptly, the idiot decided it would be a good idea to blow through the tube.

The noise was so freaking loud, Yamamoto snapped awake instantly.

"Kurosaki…"

The class immediately fell silent.

"Now known as Romeo, in our upcoming play. Any volunteers for Juliet?"

* * *

**Hi guys.**

**I am so so so sorry to cut this chapter off so suddenly, but I think it's a good time to tell everybody that I am ending Mall Wars.**

**This story has been dragging for years now, and I was really young and naïve when I first started writing it, but this story has been my baby. I loved writing it, I loved reading your reviews, I loved every single time I got some notification of some sort, because I was so proud of this story. You guys have all been so awesome and amazing and just so so nice by favoriting and reviewing and all your comments made me smile every time I read them. **

**So I am deeply sorry to say that I'm ending this.**

**You know, Fanfiction was an escape of sorts for me. I could just write anything—****_everything_****—that I could think of, hiding away from reality. I could also read anything I wanted, block out real life. But sometimes, you have to go back to actuality.**

**Also, I was going to just end this story, but I dug up this last bit of stuff that I wrote and you guys have ****_Shirayuki_****, who is a guest, but reviewed so much and loved on this story so much, that I had to give you guys something to end off on. **

**Thank you, Shirayuki, for being faithful to this little story, until the very end. **

**So, to finish things off, the rest of the scatterbrained plot that I had thought of was that Ichigo ends up as Romeo and Orihime as Juliet. Rukia, besides being a tree, was the understudy of Juliet, because she knew every line, being a Shakespeare fan and all. After practicing a lot, and on the day of the play, Orihime was going to faint, just before the balcony scene where she has to kiss Ichigo.**

**Rukia then steps in.**

**And the rest is history.**

**Kind of cliché, I know, but I've always loved stupid romantic fluffy stuff so…**

**I also wanted to have A&F win the Mall War because I've been so mean to them throughout this entire story.**

**Anyways, that's basically it.**

**You can think of whatever ending you want to this story, and all of you can adapt it however you want.**

**I love you all and I wish you guys luck.**

**Please understand.**

**-hitherelovely**


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